Customer Case: Paper Packaging Company (North America)

The client is located in a suburban area of a large city, surrounded by other industrial operations.

Multiple paper converting processes are carried out in the production plant, which produce intense and overlapping odorous emissions.

The city council has repeatedly and increasingly communicated the need for effective odor control to avoid the need to relocate the plant.

In addition, the client needs to optimize its current mitigation/remediation processes to reduce its costs in additives (Biofilters) and energy (Fogging Ramp).

Odor mitigation relies heavily on the ability to identify odor sources and differentiate them from nearby off-site sources. Given the complex topography and architecture of the site (nearby elevated railroad, highways, dense group of own and external channeled sources), the real-time identification and quantification is key to any mitigation/ remediation endeavor.

Once the offending source is differentiated and identified the plant operator will be able to take immediate corrective actions.

The implementation of an Ellona WT1 Analyzers network, consisting of 3 WT1 units each with H2S, Mercaptans and 4 four different Metal-Oxide (MOX) sensors units.
This solution was selected by customer, as contrary to most competitors in the market, Ellona has developed a unique expertise in MOS sensors.

These sensors are key in accurately measuring odor intensity and quality as H2S, Mercaptans, RSH, and NH3 sensors alone are not capable of accurately representing odor complexity.

The integration of the data from the Ellona Intelligent Platform into the Plant’s dashboard and control panel was made available through the built-in API.

Since the customer location was exposed to multiple contributing sources, a preliminary study was conducted with the help of our local partner. This helped to
determine the optimal locations for the WT1’s based on in-situ observations, the data provided by an initially deployed unit, and prevailing winds directions.

1) Odor levels automatic identification (real-time)

2) Characterization of Perceived odors – Three repetitive sources were characterized (Pungent, Rotten Egg and Wet Paper odors)

3) Identification of emitting sources – Based on the odor characterization and the events log the three perceived odors were mapped back to specific sources (two internal and one external to the property)

4) Triggering of alerts and alarms for remediation purposes – notification thresholds were defined at 500, 750 and 1,000 Distance Odor Units (DOU)

5) Odor level data was collected for correlation analysis with operational activities (Biofilter additives and Fogging ramp). The optimal utilization of additives and the ramp was translated into chemical and energy savings.

 Ellona Environmental API

A model was built (figure x), mapping Odor intensity (expressed in Odor Distance Units – ODU), characterizing different odor sources and correlating with the H2S and Mercaptans levels.

These baseline variations plus source characterization allowed the plant  operator to an effective way to identify the contributing source, activate alarms and notifications, to quickly implement mitigation/remediation actions and to  map with plant operations.

Response was always calibrated to the specific need optimizing the operational expenses avoiding unnecessary expense of additives and energy.

Knowing the impact of specific operations on the actual emission of odors enabled the customer to review some of the specific activities and implement preventive changes. The WT1 and the associated model were able to distinguish between the various odor sources, displaying unique digital fingerprints), thus leading the path to online odor identification.

If you re interested, you can download the Paper Packaging Company Case in a PDF format below.

File: Customer Case Paper Packaging Company (North America)