Electronic noses for the continuous monitoring of odours from a wastewater treatment plant at specific receptors: Focus on training methods

The aim of our research activity is the development of a system, based on the use of electronic noses, for the continuous monitoring of environmental odours at specific receptors, i.e. directly where the presence of odours is lamented. This paper describes the experimental approach adopted in order to use three electronic noses for the continuous monitoring of odours from a wastewater treatment plant, with the aim of determining its odour impact on the neighbouring land. This work focuses on the theoretical principles and the experimental methods adopted for the identification, the definition and the optimization of the procedures for the creation of a suitable training data set, which maximizes the electronic nose capability of operating a qualitative classification and estimating the odour concentration of ambient air. The results of the application of three electronic noses to the continuous monitoring of odour emissions from a wastewater treatment plant located in the North of Italy allowed to draw some important conclusions about the odour impact of the monitored plant and, from a more general point of view, about the possibility of using electronic noses as odour impact determination tools, showing how opportunely trained electronic noses can successfully be applied for the continuous monitoring of odours of environmental interest.