Greenwood Mushroom Farm Odor Control System and Results
Envron co-operated with the Canadian Mushroom Growers
Association, the Canadian Federal Government, Provincial
Government and Greenwood Mushroom Farm on a full-scale
mushroom bunker composting odor control project at
Greenwood Mushroom farm. This work was based on earlier
work conducted with the British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture
that showed positive odor control with Ozone and mushroom
compost.
The installation of the odor control system resulted in the
settlement of a $10 million lawsuit launched over the odors from
the farm. At this time, Greenwood is expanding the Ozone
system to several more bunkers.
The Greenwood odor control equipment is integrated into the
composting bunkers using a ventilation system. When compost
is present in the bunker, the Ozone system is operated in
conjunction with the blowers located in the bunker floor. The
ventilation system draws air from the bunker and Ozone is
pumped into the exhaust through a mixing/retention system.
The mixing/retention system is designed to provide maximum
mixing of the compost exhaust and Ozone so that both gases
are thoroughly entrained. The Ozone/exhaust mixture must pass
through a three-phase mixing/destruct process.
Results
A study was commissioned by the Canadian Mushroom Growers
Association using a consulting firm. When the Ozone system is
not engaged, the full composting odor is noticed coming through
the stack. When the Ozone system is engaged, the stack has a
noticeable Ozone smell which indicates the odors have been
eliminated. The report concludes: “Overall, the ozonation
system installed at Greenwood Mushroom Farm can control the
emission of odour compounds. “
These results are confirmed in the work done by the University
of Britsh Columbia which measured the output from a Surrey,
B.C. mushroom composting facility. This system treated gases
coming from a composting stack. In this case, a full-blown odor
control panel was assembled. There was a residual Ozone smell
coming from the destruct stack when tests were conducted. The results of that study with the odor panel showed that
the untreated samples required dilution rates of between 1701-3043, which is typical of odorous substances. The
Ozone treated samples dilution rates were between 209-264, which is typical of non-odorous substances. As well, the
treated samples actually smelled like Ozone which has an almost antiseptic or sanitary smell.
When Envron initially designed the system, the objective was to provide a quantified amount of mixing time at
maximum exhaust flow levels and to achieve a residual concentration of Ozone. The residual Ozone concentration
indicates that the entrainment of the gases is complete and that not all the Ozone has been used up in the
mixing/destruct process. This indicates that the Ozone will continue to react with the exhaust flow and provide further
oxidation as the dilution of the gases continues.