The second meeting of the Working Group (WG) 41 that is dealing with the first European Norm that will regulate the so-called “e-noses” took place in Nimes, France, the 11th of February 2016. In this meeting the title of the norm was further discussed. The question raised was: sensors for monitoring odorants or odours?

    Odorant? why not odour monitoring? A clear terminological distinction should be made between odorants (stimulus) and odour (sensation). In the same way that the olfactory system transduces chemical signals into perception (odours), the sensors "transduce" odorant signals into electric signals.

   A waste facility in the United Kingdom processes food waste via anaerobic digestion. The site is in a mainly rural location with a number of isolated properties at least 500 m from the site boundary, so odour control is mandatory to protect harmful conditions to the environment and avoid odour nuisances.

   The plant was commissioned using an ORGUS^® double stage biofilter system with coconut fibre as packing material. The performance of the system was measured in February 2014. Olfactometric samples were undertaken, obtaining an average outlet odour concentration considerably lower than the discharge emission limit stipulated in the contract.

F. Sempere ¹*, D. Hidalgo ¹, A. Waalkens ¹ and C. Gabaldón ²

1. Pure Air Solutions, P.O. Box 135, 8440 AC Heerenveen, The Netherlands.
2. Universitat de València, Avinguda Universitat s/n, 46100 Burjassot, Spain.
Corresponding author: f.sempere@pureairsolutions.nl