Characterization of industrial odor sources in Binhai New Area of Tianjin, China

Samples were collected from six different organized industrial odor sources in Tianjin Binhai New Area, including pharmacy, paint spraying, oil refinery, petrochemical, resin synthesis, and rubber manufacturing. Chemical analysis was conducted to identify and quantify major odorous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and subsequently, establish source profiles. Olfactory measurement was used to characterize the sensory stimulating intensity of odorous VOCs and express them as odor concentration. The TVOC mass concentrations of these six sources were between 10.9 and 225.3 mg/m3. Toluene was the most abundant component in profiles of both pharmacy and spraying sources with abundances of 79.1 and 94%, respectively. The petrochemical source was characterized by high levels of o,m,p-xylene (more than 60%). Sulfides were identified almost solely in the rubber manufacturing source. High levels of styrene were found in the resin synthesis source, whereas the oil refinery source was dominated by halocarbons. The odor concentration of oil refinery, spraying, rubber manufacturing, and resin synthesis all exceeded the Chinese emission standards for odor pollutants (GB14554-93) during the study period. Based on industrial processing analysis and factor analysis, toluene, m,p-xylene, carbon disulfide, toluene, three types of halogenated hydrocarbons, and styrene were the markers of pharmacy, petrochemical, rubber manufacturing, spraying, oil refinery, and resin synthesis sources, respectively. Production process and factor analysis methods were used to identify the markers of each odor source, which were based on instrument analysis and olfactory measurement.