E-Learning

The measurement of compounds in air using passive (diffusive) monitoring is widely recognized especially for long term (averaged) information on air quality.  The promulgation of EPA method 325 by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) validates this sampling technique.  This method is currently used in the investigation of compounds in air at the fenceline of selected industrial locations.   During development, EPA Method 325 (passive sampling) has been field tested including int...

Increasingly stringent legislation in the European Union has driven down SO2 emissions on many processes from the 100's mg.m-3 to the 10's mg.m-3, or in some cases even lower. Consequently, the measurement challenge to accredited providers of compliance measurements and EN 14181 QAL2 calibrations has become increasingly difficult, and meeting legislative uncertainty requirements far from a trivial matter. We take stock of current capability for measuring this important pollutant and present s...

Regulatory update on the Industrial Emissions Directive, including the Best Available Techniques Reference document (BREF) for Large Combustion Plant, and also the requirements of the Medium Combustion Plant Directive.

Hydrogen Chloride and Hydrogen Fluoride are among the most important pollutants monitored from waste incineration plants, cement kilns and power plants co-incinerating waste. Due to the reactive nature of these gases and their low Emission Limit Value (ELV), measuring these gases with the required low level of uncertainty has been a challenge. New standards for instrumental methods of HCl measurement and manual determination of HF are due to be published by CEN TC264/WG3 in the near future. T...

Calibration and measurements of particulte at concentration below 5m/m3 offer signicant challenges not only to process operators and test houses but also regulators. The STA has been working with industry to highlight the areas of concern and possible solutions thes will be discussed during the presnetation.

Gravimetric PM mass is a widely used method for determining particulate concentration. Different variations of the gravimetric principle are used as references in standards and legislation. While generally accepted as an accurate method, gravimetric measurement suffers from the lack of real-time data. Dekati® eFilter™ is a new instrument which combines gravimetric PM measurement with real-time diffusion charging and current measurement. Knowledge of PM accumulation on the filter can be...

At present too much emphasis for emission control from vehicles and furnaces is placed on monitoring and cleaning the exhaust gases. This means dealing with large volumes of hot gases at low pressures. This may be unavoidable in the case of coal but the adoption of gaseous and liquid fuels allows a different approach. Gases and low boiling hydrocarbon liquids contain relatively simple sulphur compounds and may also contain mercury. This allows a fresh approach for emission control. Gases are...

Lord Whitty, President, Environmental Protection UK, will open the Air Quality and Emissions Show and Conference on Wednesday 24 May at the Telford International. Lord Whitty is the opening speaker of the Air Quality and Emissions Conference at AQE 2017 in Telford. The two day event will start on Wednesday 24 May with Lord Whitty’s presentation covering ‘Environmental Protection Legislation in the Post-Brexit Era’.

Mercury has been elevated to the status of a pollutant of global concern owing to some of its unique toxic properties which pose environmental and health risks. A chemical element, mercury is found both naturally and as an introduced contaminant in the environment, mainly from high-temperature industrial processes such as alkali and metal processing, incineration of coal and oil in electric power stations, foundries, waste combustion and oil and gas processing. Mercury rapidly moved up the...

The EPA Issued the Mats rule ( Mercury Air Toxic Standard ) February 16, 2012 for all the coal & oil fired power plants in the USA and then the EPA issued the Portland Cement Mact on Feb 12, 2013 for the cement kilns operating in the US as well. When these rules were issued the US had almost 1,350 coal & oil fired units operating and a 100+ cement kilns running as well. So the plants had to make a choice as to which technology they were going to adapt for mercury monitoring compliance unde...

Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry is a workhorse for the analysis of semivolatile organic compounds in environmental samples. The Agilent Intuvo 9000 GC represents a significant advancement in gas chromatography and provides a number of advantages for semivolatile analysis. In this presentation, the performance of the Intuvo GC is demonstrated for the analysis of semivolatiles based upon the specifications of USEPA method 8270D. Included in this study is an evaluation of the Intuvo during...