Understanding the effect of ventilation, intermittent pumping and seasonality in hydrogen sulfide and methane concentrations in a coastal sewerage system

Abstract

Gas pollutants emitted during wastewater transport contribute to atmospheric pollution, aggravated risks for utility workers, infrastructure corrosion, and odour nuisance. Field studies have shown that is difficult to effectively obtain reliable correlations between in-sewer air movement and gas pollutant concentrations. This study aimed at investigating the influence of different ventilation and operating conditions in H₂S and CH₄ horizontal and vertical movement in a section of a gravity sewer, downstream of a pumping station. Relevant liquid and gas phase quality parameters were monitored, and significant H₂S concentrations were measured (with lower contents of CH₄). Results evidenced that headspace temperature and ventilation played a key effect when analysing H₂S and CH₄ dynamics. Setups with a similar content of sulfide and chemical oxygen demand resulted in different H₂S and CH₄ headspace concentrations. It was also observed that an increase in ventilation resulted in a decrease of average headspace relative humidity of over 70%, with clear implications in corrosion potential estimates. Another interesting observation was that the wastewater drag induced by intermittent pumping, in absence of ingassing, originated pressure differences of up to 0.2 Pa m⁻¹ between studied manholes. This differential originated a wave pattern of gas moving upstream and downstream, thus resulting in several gas peaks per pumping event, at the same sections. In addition, in confined setups, full mixing was not observed along the manholes.

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