Odor Emissions Factors for Bitumen-Related Production Sites

Bitumen-related production sites are facing increasing difficulties with nearby residents due to odor emissions. This parameter is still not regulated for these plants and little is known about the emissions that these plants have put into the atmosphere with the technologies available today. In this study, emission data from 47 Italian production plants were collected and analyzed to assess which values could describe the current situation in Italy. The results of the analysis showed that emissions are very variable, with odor concentration values between 200 to 37,000 ouE/m3, but data have a normal distribution. The mean value of the stack odor concentration was found to be 2424 ouE/m3. It was also possible to calculate emission factors of the plants, such as odor emission rate (OER), which represents the quantity of odor emitted per unit of time, and is expressed in odor units per second (ouE∙s−1) and odor emission factor (OEF) per ton of product, expressed in ouE/t. The values obtained were 7.1 × 104 ouE/s and 1.4 × 106 ouE/t. respectively. These data could provide a starting point for the definition of shared values among various stakeholders for the definition of regional guidelines for the emissions of these plants, in order to adjust available technologies towards emission parameters that are protective of the surrounding environment.