Abstract
The evolution of the regulatory and technical framework concerning odour emissions has increased interest in continuous monitoring systems capable of providing real-time quantitative information at emission sources. In Italy, the technical standard UNI 11761:2023 and the national guidance on odour emissions (Director Decree No. 309/2023) establish a normative framework for deploying Instrumental Odour Monitoring Systems (IOMS), including their application to assess odour abatement efficiency. This paper presents two case studies involving OSMOTREFF®, a continuous monitoring system for odour emissions from point sources that operates upstream and downstream of abatement units, enabling sequential sampling with dynamic dilution and real-time estimation of odour concentration. The deployment workflow is described for an organic waste treatment plant and a wastewater treatment plant, with focus on site-specific calibration and fine-tuning of the predictive models to match facility emission profiles. In both case studies, long-term continuous monitoring enabled the assessment of emission trends and the continuous quantification of abatement efficiency. Data analysis allowed the identification of specific operational phases within the daily production cycle associated with increased emission loads and corresponding variations in abatement performance. The results quantified the dependence of abatement efficiency on process conditions and showed efficiency decrements related to system ageing or saturation. Overall, OSMOTREFF® proved to be an effective tool for process control and abatement performance assessment, supporting maintenance optimization and operational management under variable plant conditions.
