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The work presented herein was carried out to assess the effect of intermittent pumping events in sewer headspace pressure differentials, as well as their relationship with hydrogen sulfide gas concentration. A full scale gravity sewer in Portugal, located downstream of several pumping stations, was used as the guiding case study. Under normal system operation, pressure difference between the outside atmosphere and the sewer headspace seemed to influence the in and out-gassing of gas pollutants emitted through the venting stack. Wastewater pumping cycles generated maximum pressure differentials of roughly 100 Pa, which in turn originated maximum air velocities of 1.76 m s−1 exiting the venting stack. Each pumping event was followed by a pressure drop of about 50 Pa, quickly attaining null concentrations of H2S at the venting stack. A statistically significant relationship between pressure differentials and air exit velocity was observed, which allowed obtaining an empirical equation for expedite prediction of airflows emitted to the outside atmosphere (R2 = 0.77). Conversely, the same effect was not observed along the length of the sewer pipe, unlike the findings of other studies. The effect of a full flowing pipe at the downstream end of the gravity trunk sewer was also noticeable in downstream sewer pressurization and gas build-up. It was concluded that the magnitude of the gas pollutant emissions may heavily depend on the impacts of hydraulic flows and pumping characteristics in headspace pressure differences, denoting the need for better approaches when designing and installing venting stacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 H 2 S and CH 4 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 H 2 S concentrations were measured (with lower contents of CH 4 ). Results evidenced that headspace temperature and ventilation played a key effect when analysing H 2 S and CH 4 dynamics. Setups with a similar content of sulfide and chemical oxygen demand resulted in different H 2 S and CH 4 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.