44 | MAINTENANCE
On the nose
Its an unmistakable aroma
and one that your tenants
will have plenty to say about.
ARIAN BAHRAMSARI
reports.
A
n unpleasant smell emanating
from garbage rooms, bin chutes
and loading bay areas is not the
lingering impression you want
to give to residents, visitors or clients. It can
also lead to disputes between neighbours
and even some allergic problems for
building occupants.
According to environmental campaigner,
author, broadcaster, science journalist
and sustainability researcher Tanya Ha,
Australians produce about 2.25 kilograms of
waste each per day. Imagine a high-rise tower
with around 500 apartments that means
more than a tonne of rubbish produced in a
day. Odour control management needs to be
more than simply installing an automated air
freshener in garbage rooms and bin chutes.
ODOUR REMOVAL RESOLUTIONS
From simple proactive steps to sophisticated
resolutions, there are several approaches
that facility managers can use to overcome
odour challenges.
Prevention is obviously the best step. Here
are some common and effective tactics to
successfully manage garbage smell:
Arranging more frequent service from the
bin hauler company
Although it may seem obvious to some,
scheduling frequent trips from your
garbage hauling party, regardless of
compactors being full or not, can make a
great difference.
Frequent sanitising in targeted area
Regularly disinfecting, sterilising and
cleaning trash chutes, compactors and
other waste receptacles can minimise
negative impacts of bad smells and
improve comfort and enjoyment of a space.
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Providing compactors and bins with
appropriate covers/lids
Applying lids on the top of the compactors
can also be very effective. Covers capture
the gas before it is released into the area.
Upholding bin chutes exhaust fans
Maintaining exhaust fans mounted in the
vent stack, which create a partial vacuum
in the chute and extract fumes and odours,
is also an imperative consideration to
remove smells. These fans are normally
located on the roof of the building and a
weatherproof cowl is generally fitted at the
top of the vent stack.
Creating negative pressure in garbage
rooms via HVAC (heating, ventilation and
air-conditioning) optimisation
Tune up the trash rooms ventilation
system and confirm that adjacent areas
are positively pressurised in relation to the
odour source. The constant exhaust can
create a negative pressure in the garbage
room, chute and shafts. The negative
pressure would prevent odour migration
back into the halls and outside of the
garbage room. A well-maintained HVAC
system can also stop dust blowing out into
the faces of residents/clients/cleaners
when they open the chute to dispose
of garbage. Facility managers should
also note that the air transported by
mechanical ventilation systems can move
odours from their source into an area
where people complain.
Installing a garbage cooler system
Cooling systems usually maintain the
garbage storage areas temperature
below 10 degrees Celsius and they will
slow down odorous molecules activity
dramatically. Having said this, while cooling
systems may partially rectify the odour
problem, nevertheless their maintenance
cost and energy consumption can leave a
lot to be desired.
Installing air freshener units
It may seem the quickest and easiest way
to neutralise trash odours, but its not the
right way to go. There is a wide range
of perfume dispersal equipment in the
market, but such products only mask the
issue. Indeed, in most cases after applying
these machines, the scent is a mixture of
garbage and perfume.
Deploying odour control technologies
using photolysis, oxidation, ozonolysis
and catalysts
There are numerous forms of odour
removal machines on the market using
these methods. Some systems use a
single-engineered technique, while others
apply a combination of methods.
ODOUR CONTROL
TECHNOLOGIES
Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation
technology
In this method the air is forced through
ultraviolet (UV) germicidal irradiation.
Essentially, UV light is a short-wavelength
light just beyond the blue/violet part of the
electromagnetic spectrum that our eyes can
detect. UV is classified into three wavelength
ranges:
UV-C, from 100 nanometres to 280
nanometres (called germicidal UV)
UV-B, from 280 nanometres to 315
nanometres, and
UV-A, from 315 nanometres to 400
nanometres.
UV-C or germicidal UV (usually around
250 nanometres) is the most effective
bandwidth of UV light in destroying
microorganisms in the air. In this way, UV light
can damage the DNA structure and chemical
bonds of volatile organic compounds (VOCs),
which cause odours.
The hindmost step of this method could be
an appropriate filtration, which removes the
microorganisms and dead remains.
There are two major reasons that
justify applying filters with UV-C odour
control systems. First, according to an
article published in 2015 in the journal,
Environmental Science and Technology, UV
treatment alone can push bacteria into a
dormant state instead of killing them, and
in some cases, the bacteria can later revive
and proliferate. Second, dead organisms may
become food for new produced bacteria and
airborne particles.
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ODOUR REMOVAL FILTER TYPES
Filters used in UV-C systems can be
activated carbon, HEPA (high efficiency
particulate air) or any other type. HEPA filters
remove microscopic particles down to 0.3
microns such as smoke and volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) while activated carbon
(carbon filtration) has pores sized from six to
20 microns to which chemical contaminants
become attracted and trapped within.
Photocatalytic Oxidation Technology (PCO)
Photocatalytic oxidation is a process
where ultraviolet light irradiates onto a
catalyst, which converts water in the air into
a form that turns odorous molecules and
VOCs into harmless substances and non-
odorous molecules.
The catalyst used in this method is
normally a thin film of semiconductor such
as titanium dioxide. The energy from an
ultraviolet light photon excites the electrons
on the catalysts surface. Electrons then are
released and interact with water molecules
floating in the air. They bind with oxygen to
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become hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radicals
(which are highly reactive and short-lived),
and hydroxides. These final products attach
themselves to specific organisms and attack
them. The harmful VOCs are oxidised and
turned into water and carbon dioxide.
The disadvantage of this process is that
photocatalytic purifiers also produce tiny
amounts of ozone, which is, in itself, a toxic
air pollutant. There is some uncertainty over
whether what is produced by photocatalytic
air purifiers could pose a greater risk to
human health than the pollutants they are
designed to remove.
Ozone generators
These systems apply UV light to promote
oxygen molecules and break these apart into
individual atoms. The unstable oxygen atoms
attach to other oxygen molecules and form a
triatomic form of oxygen (ozone). Ozone then
is dispersed into the area that needs treating.
Ozone is highly inclined to bond to pollutant
microorganisms in the air and neutralises the
aromatic molecules causing the smell. Carol
James, founder of InspiredLiving.com explains
how ozone removes odour. Once the ozone
(O3 ) molecule meets a contaminant, one of its
atoms attaches itself to it and leaves two other
atoms behind as pure oxygen (O2 ). Both the
contaminant and the atom are destroyed.
Basically, if the O3 molecule does not
find a contaminant in its environment, it will
attack itself to change its configuration of
O3 back to O2 (normal oxygen) in 20 to
30 minutes at room temperature and
normal humidity.
It is highly recommended not to breathe in
heavy amounts of ozone and it is imperative
that nobody is in the room when the purifier
is on.
It is worth mentioning that there is a
difference between UV-C technology and
ozone generators. Ozone generators use UV
light to form ozone, which then eradicates
pollutants, while in UV-C technology, the
germicidal UV-C kills pathogens directly.
COMPLEMENTARY
TECHNOLOGIES
There are some other complementary
technologies to resolve garbage odour.
Ionizer purifiers These systems benefit
from using electrically charged liquid
ions to neutralise odorous contaminants.
The liquid ions attract pollutants
electrostatically and turn them into newly
formed heavy particles, which fall into the
collection plate.
Plasma-injector odour control technology
This recent technology relies on high-
speed oxidation by applying plasma
(oxygen radicals, hydroxyl radicals, ions,
ozone) within a plasma reactor.
Another option is using sample collector
equipment (an olfactometer) and conducting
odour analysis for in-depth examination.
Evaluating the smell in a laboratory can gauge
the odour intensity and identify the best
resolution method. Facility managers can hire
experts to examine the smell in their buildings
and deploy a pilot odour removal system
before applying a permanent solution.
> Arian Bahramsari is a facility manager
at Docklands-based Facility Management
Victoria.
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