Odour sampling and measurement service
Welcome to Odour Research Laboratory at PolyU
The Odour Research Laboratory at PolyU was established in 1995 and specialises in odour research and consultancy for environmental odours with the following expertise:
-
Sampling of odorous air pollutants, including odours and some specific odorous compounds like ammonia, hydrogen sulfide,
- and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from various odour sources using contemporary sampling equipments such as flux chamber, wind tunnel and stack sampler.
- Measurement and monitoring of odour concentration and intensity using a dynamic olfactometer according to the European Standard Method (EN13725).
- Dispersion modelling and impact assessment of odours for existing and proposed projects against required regulatory odour performance criteria.
- Odour management and emission control including treatment and abatement of odorous emissions at various souces.
- Training and education of personnel responsible for developing and implementing odour monitoring, assessment and policies.
The method of odour measurement in our odour research lab follows the European Standard Method (EN 13725:2003).
The scope of the method is the measurements of odour concentration of pure substances,
defined mixtures and undefined mixtures of gaseous odorants in air or nitrogen, using
dynamic olfactometry with a panel of human assessors being the sensor. The unit of
measurement is the odour unit per cubic meter (ou/m3). The odour concentration
is measured by determining the dilution factor required to reach the detection threshold.
The odour concentration at the detection threshold is by definition 1 ou/m3.
The odour concentration is then expressed in terms of multiples of the detection
threshold. The range of measurement is typically from 101 to 107
ou/m3 (including pre-dilution). The Olfactomat-m (olfactometer) is a dilution
apparatus designed to perform one-out-of-two forced choice odour threshold measurements,
one measurement, using a panel of 8 persons, can be completed in less than an hour.
Services Available
The odour research lab in The Hong Kong Polytechnic
University can offer some services, including:
This odour research lab has technical links with Project Research Amsterdam, Netherlands,
and Centre for Wastewater Treatment, UNSW, Australia
Responsible person:
Professor
X.Z. LI
Odour Research Lab,
Dept. of Civil & Structural Engineering,
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2766 6016
Fax: (852) 2334 6389
E-mail: cexzli@inet.polyu.edu.hk
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