Reference: OEC Odour filter
Saying goodbye to smells
A project involving Scheuch COMPONENTS working together with businessman Johannes Duscher proved to be the perfect example of how beneficial collaboration can be. Hailing from the Innviertel region, Duscher operates a composting facility in the Lower Austria town of Haag. To combat odours emanating from the facility, he joined forces with Scheuch COMPONENTS to develop a unique odour filter.
Operators of large-scale composting plants have long been faced with a dilemma if they compost more than 10,000 tons of material annually. Where this is the case, the plant must be enclosed and have extraction systems ensuring that the odour levels in the environment and for local residents remain below 500 odour units.
To date, composting plants have only been able to use biofilter systems – which themselves emit odours, making it difficult to comply with the limit values laid down in law.
“A biofilter needs a certain amount of moisture to work. However, a composting plant would only be able to work with activated carbon if the moisture level were kept low – so these plants have never used activated carbon until now”, explains Johannes Duscher. Dissatisfied with this state of affairs, he and Scheuch COMPONENTS got together to figure out a solution that would combine two supposedly incompatible components.
A joint effort from the outset
The pilot plant went into operation in Haag back in 2014, with Scheuch COMPONENTS on board right from the start. In addition to supplying fans and pipes, the company contributed the extraction concept. Duscher’s invention is based on moist exhaust air being extracted from the hot composting hall and the sludge hall, before being processed through a biofilter to make it compatible with activated carbon.
Values falling below the limits by more than half
The pilot plant has now been operating seamlessly for more than two and a half years. From the very beginning, the odour values have fallen below the specified limits by more than half, with monthly measurements equating to an average value of less than 200 odour units.
The system developed by Johannes Duscher and Scheuch COMPONENTS enjoys protection as a utility model and the aim is to roll it out beyond Austria in the future. There are already some projects firmly in the pipeline in locations including Poland. In addition, Duscher and Scheuch are always happy to take those with an interest in the system on a guided tour around the composting plant in Haag, allowing them to form their own picture of how everything works.
Both parties in the project are thrilled with its outcome. To quote Duscher: “In a pilot project like this, having the experience of a seasoned plant manufacturer like Scheuch on board is a huge advantage. I’m delighted that we were able to develop the concept together”.