Identification of an odour source from various probable sources in an industrial wastewater treatment plant

Numerical simulation of pollutant dispersion from a given source is commonly possible based on various known models, such as, among others, Gaussian, Lagrange, Puff, and Euler. Quite frequently, however, the reverse problem of source identification must be solved whenever inhabitants complain about a disturbing odour from a neighbouring facility as, for example, in the case of the SIAAP wastewater treatment plant at Valenton, near Paris, the largest of its kind in Europe. In the past, the method of puff releases from all probable sources in this large facility was used in order to follow their path to the particular locations of the complainers where the odour was detected. The current paper will review new possibilities of performing such odour source retro-tracking analyses in the future in order to optimise plant operations under variable environmental constraints.