Singh A., Kajolinna T., Sharma M., Pellikka T., Pathak A., Kamyotra J., 2014, Case Study on Odour Measurements in India, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 40, 91-96.
In India, there are no systematic odour measurement methods in use at this moment. Yet, odour causes several complaints and also court cases. CPCB, India and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland have started year 2011 a project called “Capacity building for emission measurements in India”. One focus area in this project was odours and the objective was to find the most suitable method to be used to assess odours nuisance in Indian circumstances. Therefore, different odour measurement methods were introduced to Indian experts and priority was set to methods which do not need a lot of technical facilities or expertise. It was observed that the most feasible option to carry out an odour survey in India is to use Field Investigation Method. Applied field investigation method was modified to fit India’s need to measure different odour intensities based on the experience that clearly recognizable odour is observed as an annoyance. The modified method is partly based on the Guideline VDI 3940 part 3 (2008) and partly based on prEN 264086:2008 part 1. Modified field investigation method can be used to measure odour frequency and to estimate an intensity of existing odour. Results are presented as relative odour frequencies. Odour frequency results are indicatively comparable with results from mentioned guidelines. Two Field Investigation case studies were performed in India and these studies were the first odour determinations performed in India ever. First study was performed in Industrial Hazardous Waste Disposal area on February 2013 and the second one in Pharmaceutical Industry on May 2013. Both sites are categorised as critical polluted areas in India. These studies indicated that there existed remarkable odour frequencies, such as 100 percentile of observation time. Clearly recognizable odour intensities were sensed in the range from 25 to 93 percentile of observed time in the vicinity of the studied facilities. This article focuses on presenting modified field investigation method and the results of these two case studies in India.
