493

A publication of

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING TRANSACTIONS

VOL. 68, 2018 The Italian Association
of Chemical Engineering
Online at www.aidic.it/cet
Guest Editors: Selena Sironi, Laura Capelli
Copyright © 2018, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.
ISBN 978-88-95608-65-5; ISSN 2283-9216 DOI: 10.3303/CET1868083

The Odor Treatment Methods of Wastewater Treatment Plant

Based on Biological Oxidation Process
Zuwu Hu, Ling Liu
Guangzhou college of commerce, Guangzhou 510000, China;
huzuw@126.com

With the continuous increase of urban domestic sewage and production sewage discharge, China has
enhanced the treatment of odors in the sewage treatment process. At present, the odor problem of sewage
treatment plants needs to be treated jointly by various techniques. In this paper, biological and oxidation
methods are selected to study the odor treatment methods of sewage treatment plants, and two pilot plants of
biological method and oxidation method are established for the pilot tests. The test results showed that: using
biological method to treat the odors in the sewage tanks has a good treatment effect, and the treatment effect
of N2 and H2S is relatively stable; using the "alkali absorption + oxidation" method to treat the odors produced
by the other regulating tanks has a relative stable treatment effect. The H 2S treatment efficiency is best when
the pH is 7.5-9, the potential is 700-850, and the liquid-gas ratio is between 4.7L/m3-6.0L/m3.

1. Introduction
As China's economic development constantly speeds up and the industrialization process continues to
deepen, the discharge of urban domestic sewage and production sewage continues to increase. The
discharge of urban sewage has a great impact on the lives of the general public and industrial production. In
the city, odor is usually generated during the sewage treatment process, and whether the odor is harmful or
not, it is unbearable for the people. How to control the odors and conduct effective treatment has become a
key issue in urban environmental protection (Antonopoulou et al., 2014). At present, China has enhanced the
treatment of odors in the sewage treatment process, but single treatment technology has been unable to
effectively deal with the odor problem of sewage treatment plants. The combination of various technologies
has become an important development direction of future odor treatment (Ghoreishi and Haghighi, 2003; Sed
et al., 2018).
At present, many scholars at home and abroad have conducted targeted research on the treatment of odors
and formed a series of research results. Some scholars have proposed to use chemical washing method,
biological filtration method and other methods to deal with the odors (Cowger and Labbe, 1965; Esplugas et
al., 2004). Some scholars have conducted detailed research on the equipment and process of odor treatment
(Ioannou-Ttofa et al., 2017); and some scholars have studied the feasibility of odor treatment in some projects
(Beltrán et al., 2001; Moreira et al., 2015). This paper is mainly based on the biological oxidation method to
study the odor treatment method of sewage treatment plant, which is of great practical value (Mazzelli et al.,
2018).

2. Introduction of relevant theories

2.1 Substances that produce odors
The generation of odors is mainly closely related to the treatment process of sewage and the operation of the
treatment system. Sewage contains a lot of anaerobic organisms, which produce odors when they consume
the organic matters (Holman and Wareham, 2003). The components of the odors are mainly composed of
organic molecules and inorganic molecules, and the main inorganic gases are hydrogen sulfide and ammonia.
Organic odors are often the result of the activity of living organisms, which decomposes the organic matters to

Please cite this article as: Hu Z., Liu L., 2018, The odor treatment methods of wastewater treatment plant based on biological oxidation
process, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 68, 493-498 DOI: 10.3303/CET1868083
494

form a foul odor composed of various organic gases. The common odor-causing sulfur compounds are shown
in Table 1.

Table 1: Identification of sulfur-containing odor compounds in sewage treatment facilities

Molecular formula Odor characteristics Critical value Molecular weight
CH2=CH-CH2-SH Strong garlic taste 0.00004 75.31
CH3-(CH2)3-CH2-SH Rotten taste 0.0006 107.64
C6H5CH2-SH Intensely unpleasant 0.00019 1276.58
CH3-CH=CH-CH2-SH The stink of the weasel 0.000032 93.47
CH3-S-CH3 Rotten vegetable taste 0.0005 64.18
CH3-CH2-SH3 The rotten taste of cabbage 0.00024 60.83

The odor is mainly due to the sensation caused by stimulating the olfactory organs in the nostrils. The
common odor gas in sewage is mainly the hydrogen sulfide gas which is formed by bacteria reducing sulphur
under anaerobic conditions (Lee, 2018).
SO2−
4 + 𝑂𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑐 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 → 𝑆
2− + 𝐻 𝑂 + 𝐶𝑂
2 2 (1)
𝑆 2− + 2𝐻 + → 𝐻2 𝑆 (2)
If the pH value reaches 9, 99% or more of the sulfide is dissolved in the water, and the sulfur exists in the form
of HS that has no odor. When the pH exceeds 8, the hydrogen sulfide gas won’t release. If the pH value is
less than 8, the hydrogen sulfide gas will be released from the sewage. When the pH exceeds 9, it will release
ammonia gas (Lee and Ahn, 2010).
2.2 Oxidation treatment
In the oxidation treatment of odors, various hypochlorites are mainly used as oxidants to utilize their strong
oxidation properties (Benner et al., 2013). The cyano group is not easily decomposed, so it is usually
accelerated by a strong oxidation method. The basic ion reaction formula is as follows:
Local oxidation:
CN − + HOCI → CNCI + 𝑂𝐻 − (3)
CNCI + 2𝑂𝐻 − → 𝐶𝑁𝑂 − + 𝐶𝐼 − + 𝐻2 𝑂 (4)
Complete oxidation:
2𝐶𝑁𝑂 − + 3𝑂𝐶𝐼− + 𝐻2 𝑂 → 2𝐶𝑂2 + 𝑁2 + 3𝐶𝐼− + 2𝑂𝐻 − (5)
Reaction (3) can occur instantaneously at any pH conditions (Peter and Von, 2007). In order to be able to
convert cyanogen chloride (CNCI) into cyanate according to reaction (4) in time, a pH value that is higher than
10.5 is required, and at this time, the reaction can be completed in a few minutes (4). Reaction (5) is mainly
the oxidative decomposition of cyanate into nitrogen and carbon dioxide (Raúl et al., 2013).

3. Biological oxidation odor treatment

3.1 Biological odor treatment
The biological odor treatment process is: at first, the organic pollutants contacted with the water and dissolved
in it. Due to the difference in concentration, after the organic matters dissolved in the water, they further
diffused from the liquid film into the biofilm, and then had been absorbed by the microbes in the biofilm.
Through metabolism, the microbes will eventually turn the stinks in the odors into energy and carbon source,
and decompose the organic matters into water and carbon dioxide. Eventually, effective treatment of odor is
achieved. The whole process is shown in Figure 1.
The equipment and materials needed for the biological treatment of odors are shown in Table 2.
The data recording and processing of the biological odor treatment are shown in Table 3.
Through the experimental results in the table, it can be found that using biological method to treat the odors in
the sewage tanks has a very good treatment effect. The treatment effects of N2 and H2S are relatively stable.
Among them, the average efficiency of N2 treatment is 95.38%, the highest can reach 97.08%; the average
efficiency of H2S treatment is 98.01%, and the highest can reach 99.15%.
 495

Odor gas in aerobic pond

First-order biological
reaction pool

Two stage biological

reaction pool

Induced draft fan

Exhaust cylinder

Figure 1: Biological process flow chart

Table 2: Experimental instruments and equipment

Numbe
Device name Specifications Texture of material
r
1 First-order biological reaction pool 1m*1.5m*1.5m Plexiglass
2 Two stage biological reaction pool 1m*1.5m*1.5m Plexiglass
3 Induced draft fan 15KW Glass fiber reinforced Plastics
4 Flowmeter 100m3/h
5 air sampler TH-110F Carbon steel
6 Bullous absorption tube Glass
7 Ultraviolet spectrophotometer UV743-GD
8 Analytical balance FA2008
9 Portable acidity meter PHB-2
10 Electromagnetic air compressor ACO-310
11 Glass rotor flowmeter LZB-5 Glass
12 Gas flowmeter LZB-3WB
13 Water circulating pump HJ-984 Carbon steel

Table 3: Data analysis of experimental results in biological system

Serial number Flow (m3/h) Monitoring index Import Export Removal rate (%)
N2(mg/m3) 10.52 0.64 93.75%
1 80
H2S(mg/m3) 18.94 0.18 98.47%
N2(mg/m3) 15.32 0.46 97.08%
2 80
H2S(mg/m3) 19.07 0.17 98.97%
N2(mg/m3) 12.39 0.52 96.37%
3 80
H2S(mg/m3) 13.16 0.47 95.79%
4 80 H2S(mg/m3) 19.32 0.39 99.15%
5 60 H2S(mg/m3) 15.74 0.58 97.15%
6 60 H2S(mg/m3) 14.98 0.74 95.96%
7 60 H2S(mg/m3) 17.57 0.38 98.43%
8 60 H2S(mg/m3) 18.31 0.23 97.45%
9 60 H2S(mg/m3) 16.93 0.29 98.05%
10 60 H2S(mg/m3) 16.85 0.41 98.49%
11 60 H2S(mg/m3) 18.02 0.32 97.34%
12 60 H2S(mg/m3) 18.45 0.36 98.57%
13 40 H2S(mg/m3) 16.82 0.41 95.75%
14 40 H2S(mg/m3) 17.43 0.38 96.37%
15 40 H2S(mg/m3) 19.35 0.26 98.52%
16 40 H2S(mg/m3) 18.54 0.37 97.09%
496

3.2 Oxidation odor treatment

The oxidation method mainly uses the strong oxidizing property of hypochlorite to oxidize the organic matter,
thereby achieving effective removal of the odors. In the sewage treatment plant, when there is a high
concentration of odors, the concentration of the sodium hypochlorite solution is about 50-500 ppm, and the
reaction formula is expressed as:
NaOCI + 𝐻2 𝑂 → 𝐻𝑂𝐶𝐼 + 𝑁𝑎𝑂𝐻 (6)

The odor of other units in

sewage treatment

First grade alkali washing tower

Alkali tank

Two grade alkali washing tower

Three stage oxidation tower Sodium hypochlorite

storage tank

Four grade water washing tower

Induced draft fan

Exhaust cylinder

Figure 2: Process flow of alkali absorption + oxidation

Table 4: Data analysis of pilot test results of "alkali absorption + oxidation" system
Serial number Monitoring index Import Export Removal rate (%)
N2(mg/m3) 4.25 0.34 96.38
1
H2S(mg/m3) 2.56 0.29 87.25
N2(mg/m3) 4.56 0.84 81.93
2
H2S(mg/m3) 2.27 0.41 83.46
N2(mg/m3) 5.03 0.57 90.04
3
H2S(mg/m3) 2.97 0.68 80.24
N2(mg/m3) 4.47 0.41 89.56
4
H2S(mg/m3) 2.38 0.27 94.28
N2(mg/m3) 2.96 0.41 92.63
5
H2S(mg/m3) 4.89 0.37 85.19
N2(mg/m3) 4.74 0.37 91.27
6
H2S(mg/m3) 2.89 0.71 79.82
N2(mg/m3) 4.62 0.32 85.76
7
H2S(mg/m3) 2.95 0.27 85.39
8 H2S(mg/m3) 2.74 0.31 79.32
9 H2S(mg/m3) 2.84 0.25 84.76
10 H2S(mg/m3) 2.69 0.37 85.27
11 H2S(mg/m3) 2.76 0.29 90.01
12 H2S(mg/m3) 2.19 0.51 89.53
13 H2S(mg/m3) 2.06 0.36 85.78
14 H2S(mg/m3) 2.84 0.26 87.51
15 H2S(mg/m3) 2.63 0.37 88.63
16 H2S(mg/m3) 2.59 0.43 89.27

The oxidation method mainly uses strong oxidants to make gas-liquid contact with the odors generated by the
sewage treatment, it oxidizes the odor component in the gas, so as to eliminate the odors generated in the
sewage treatment. Some odorous substances such as organic sulfur compounds, oxygen-containing
hydrocarbons, and the like can be treated by the oxidation method. A specific flow chart of the alkali
absorption + oxidation method is shown as Figure 2.
The data recording and processing of the oxidation odor treatment are shown in Table 4.
From the experimental data, it can be found that the effect of the treatment of odorous gases produced by
other regulating tanks by the "alkali absorption + oxidation" method is relatively stable. The average efficiency
 497

of N2 treatment is 89.24%, and the highest can reach 96.38%; the average efficiency of H 2S treatment is
88.97%, and the highest can reach 94.28%.
It can be seen from Figure 3 that as the pH value increases, the removal rate of H 2S decreases continuously.
When the pH value is greater than 9.5, the removal effect is greatly reduced. When the pH is lower than 7.5,
although the removal rate is high, the outlet gas will have some chlorine smell, so the pH range when the
treatment effect is optimal is [7.5, 9].
It can be seen from Figure 4 that as the potential increases, the removal rate of H 2S also increases. When the
potential is less than 650, the removal effect is greatly reduced; when the potential is higher than 850,
although the removal rate is higher, the outlet gas will have some chlorine smell, so the potential range when
the treatment effect is optimal is [700, 850].
It can be seen from Figure 5 that as the liquid-gas ratio continues to increase, the removal rate of H2S will also
increase. When the liquid-gas ratio is less than 4.7L/m3, the removal effect is greatly reduced; when the liquid-
gas ratio is higher than 6.0L/m3, the removal effect is not significantly improved, so the liquid-gas ratio range
when the treatment effect is optimal is [4.7, 6.0]

Table 5: The relationship between the removal rate and the control parameters
PH Removal Potential Removal Circulatory Liquid to gas Removal
value rate (%) (mV) rate (%) volume (m3/h) ratio (L/m3) rate (%)
7 89.31 400 10.94 11 3.8 10.28
7.5 87.62 500 20.63 12 4.1 20.74
8 85.37 600 50.38 13 4.2 50.49
8.5 81.94 650 70.04 14 4.5 75.34
9 75.32 700 78.92 15 4.9 82.51
9.5 71.64 750 83.64 16 5.2 83.64
10 51.09 800 85.39 17 5.6 85.03
10.5 20.18 850 87.62 18 6.2 87.38
11 10.69 900 89.93 19 6.5 90.29

Removal rate %
Removal rate % 100
100
90

80
80
70
Removal rate %

60
Removal rate %

60
50

40
40
30

20
20

10

0 0
6 7 8 9 10 11 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000

PH value Potential

Figure 3: The change of hydrogen sulphide Figure 4: The change of hydrogen sulfide
removal rate with pH value removal rate with potential

Figure 5: The change of hydrogen sulfide removal rate with the ratio of liquid to gas
498

4. Conclusion
4.1 The biological method is used to treat the odors in the sewage tanks, and the treatment effect is very
good. The treatment effects of N2 and H2S are relatively stable. Among them, the average efficiency of N2
treatment is 95.38%, the highest can reach 97.08%; the average efficiency of H 2S treatment is 98.01%, and
the highest can reach 99.15%.
4.2 The effect of the treatment of odorous gases produced by other regulating tanks by the "alkali absorption +
oxidation" method is relatively stable. The average efficiency of N 2 treatment is 89.24%, and the highest can
reach 96.38%; the average efficiency of H2S treatment is 88.97%, and the highest can reach 94.28%. The
H2S treatment efficiency is best when the pH is 7.5-9, the potential is 700-850, and the liquid-gas ratio is
between 4.7L/m3-6.0L/m3.

References
Antonopoulou M., Evgenidou E., Lambropoulou D., Konstantinou I., 2014, A review on advanced oxidation
processes for the removal of taste and odor compounds from aqueous media, Water Research, 53(8),
215-234, DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2014.01.028
Beltrán F.J., Aacute Lvarez P.M., Rodríguez E.M., García-Araya J.F., Rivas J., 2001, Treatment of high
strength distillery wastewater (cherry stillage) by integrated aerobic biological oxidation and ozonation,
Biotechnology Progress, 17(3), 462-467, DOI: 10.1021/bp010021c
Benner J., Helbling D.E., Kohler H.P.E., Wittebol J., Kaiser E., Prasse C., 2013, Is biological treatment a
viable alternative for micropollutant removal in drinking water treatment processes, Water Research,
47(16), 5955-5976, DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2013.07.015
Cowger M.L., Labbe R.F., 1965, Contraindications of biological-oxidation inhibitors in the treatment of
porphyria, Lancet, 285(7380), 318-318, DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(65)91052-4
Esplugas S., Ollis D.F., Contreras S., 2004, Engineering aspects of the integration of chemical and biological
oxidation: simple mechanistic models for the oxidation treatment, Journal of Environmental Engineering,
130(9), 967-974, DOI: 10.1061/(asce)0733-9372(2004)130:9(967)
Ghoreishi S.M., Haghighi R., 2003, Chemical catalytic reaction and biological oxidation for treatment of non-
biodegradable textile effluent, Chemical Engineering Journal, 95(1), 163-169, DOI: 10.1016/s1385-
8947(03)00100-1
Holman J.B., Wareham D.G., 2003, Oxidation-reduction potential as a monitoring tool in a low dissolved
oxygen wastewater treatment process, Journal of Environmental Engineering, 129(1), 52-58, DOI:
10.1061/(asce)0733-9372(2003)129:1(52)
Ioannou-Ttofa L., Michael-Kordatou I., Fattas S.C., Eusebio A., Ribeiro B., Rusan M., 2017, Treatment
efficiency and economic feasibility of biological oxidation, membrane filtration and separation processes,
and advanced oxidation for the purification and valorization of olive mill wastewater, Water Research, 114,
1-13, DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2017.02.020
Lee E.J., Ahn D.U., 2010, Effect of antioxidants on the production of off-odor volatiles and lipid oxidation in
irradiated turkey breast meat and meat homogenates, Journal of Food Science, 68(5), 1631-1638, DOI:
10.1111/j.1365-2621.2003.tb12304.x
Lee Y., 2018, Oxidation kinetics of algal-derived taste and odor compounds during water treatment with
ferrate(vi), Chemical Engineering Journal, 334, 1065-1073, DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2017.10.057
Mazzelli A., Cicci A., Sed G., Bravi M., 2018, Development of semi-theoretical light radiation and
photosynthetic growth model for the optimal exploitation of wastewaters by microalgae, Chemical
Engineering Transactions, 64, 685-690, DOI: 10.3303/CET1864115
Moreira F.C., Rui A.R.B., Brillas E., Vilar V.J.P., 2015, Remediation of a winery wastewater combining aerobic
biological oxidation and electrochemical advanced oxidation processes, Water Research, 75, 95-108, DOI:
10.1016/j.watres.2015.02.029
Peter A., Von U.G., 2007, Oxidation kinetics of selected taste and odor compounds during ozonation of
drinking water, Environmental Science & Technology, 41(2), 626-631, DOI: 10.1021/es061687b
Raúl M., Theo S.O., Lina S., Glittmann R.P., Guillermo Q., 2013, Biological anoxic treatment of o?-free voc
emissions from the petrochemical industry: a proof of concept study, Journal of Hazardous Materials,
260(6), 442-450, DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2013.05.051
Sed G., Cicci A., Bravi M., 2018, Growth of microalgae in spectrum-neutral, volume-distributed light restriction
as the baseline of wastewater exploitation, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 64, 667-672, DOI:
10.3303/CET1864112