Among the methods for recovering organic residues, methanization has many advantages. It makes it possible, among other things, to minimize waste and produce energy with a low carbon footprint. This process uses anaerobic bacteria and can admit a wide variety of inputs of various origins leading to the production of a biogas, the interesting part of which is composed of methane, and a digestate which can be envisaged, via a return to the ground, as an amendment. Materials are introduced into a digester where bacteria produce a gaseous fraction and a liquid/solid fraction. However, the molecular families encountered in volatile emissions, both at the level of inputs and products, can have possible impacts on the environment of methanization plants. It is to estimate the odorous emissions of such installations, in relation to the gaseous emissions, that this article was written. It will thus be possible to judge the effects of the nature of the inputs, according to the type of plant, by establishing, as soon as possible, the link between chemical nature and odor power. The societal acceptability of anaerobic digestion is a major obstacle to the rapid development of this energy production technique and the particular problem of odors constitutes an important part of the rejection reaction.
It is therefore operations of different types that have been examined both on the basis of standardized or innovative olfactometric analyzes and on the basis of detailed chemical analyzes providing information on the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the molecules emitted. At the end of this article, (future) operators, design offices or administrative agents will find material to target the problematic positions of each type of plant in order not to create odor nuisances in their vicinity.
a table of abbreviations is presented at the end of the article.