Company - Company History
Founded in 1998 by Dr. Christophe Guy and Thierry Page, ODOTECH is a spin-off of the Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal Engineering School. The company's mission is to design, develop and market leading-edge odour measurement and monitoring solutions.
Our Services - Odour Analysis
Measuring odours is not the same as doing a chemical analysis of atmospheric pollutants. Indeed, you may know perfectly well what pollutants are being released and at what rate, but this may tell you nothing about the odour. Odour is caused by volatile organic compounds usually emitted several at a time, as a mix. The perceived odour is the result of their combined interaction with the huge number of sensors in the human nose. For the sake of illustration, human DNA contains 1 gene for hearing, 3 for vision, 12 for taste, and 1000 for smell.
Odour characterization and measurement is a new field. ODOTECH is a world leader in this area. Accurate instrumentation for odour measurement is crucial, and ODOTECH has developed some of the best instruments available today, including an advanced electronic nose and the world's leading olfactometer.
ODOTECH was able to do that because, among other things, of its extensive experience as a provider of odour-related services to municipalities, waste disposal sites, composters, manufacturing plants, water treatment plants, and more.
Odour Impact Studies
An odour impact study is designed and prepared following a scientific method similar to that of an air quality impact study. Using techniques and tools specific to odours, an odour impact study supplies the information required to assess the impact of a project in terms of odour emissions, and is designed to meet regulatory requirements.
Atmospheric Dispersion of Odours
Conventional contaminant atmospheric dispersion models do not allow adequate simulation of odour dispersion. Odotech therefore simulates the atmospheric dispersion of odours using mathematical models specifically designed for odours. There are many applications: verifying facility compliance with existing regulations, estimating the abatement level required to eliminate the odour problem, supplying the elements needed to identify and select possible approaches, etc.
Stack, Surface Source (Liquid or Solid), and Ambient Air Sampling
Odour sampling to characterize the source is the first stage in solving an odour problem. Odotech does ambient air as well as point and surface emission source sampling.
Olfactometric and Chemical Analysis Characterization of Odours
Olfactometry means characterizing odours by means of a trained jury of "noses". During an olfactometric analysis, the jury is exposed to different dilutions of the odoriferous sample. Physico-chemical characterization of an odouriferous sample is an attempt to seek out and quantify the chemical elements present in the atmosphere, to then check a tabulation of the olfactory properties of each substance in order to try to characterize the resulting odour. This method has definite limitations.
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