Monitoring you can rely on

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the UK’s National Metrology Institute, prides itself on supporting industrial activities in the UK and beyond. NPL’s Environmental Emission Metrology (EEM) group offer a range of services aimed at robust, high quality, and metrologically-assured monitoring of emissions across sectors. EEM’s world-leading expertise and multi-decade experience in emission monitoring is key to the continual development and improvement of many methods, from field deployment and data analysis through to standardisation and validation.

EEM offers MCERTS-certified testing of industrial emissions to meet regulatory and process control requirements in accordance with environmental regulations. EEM’s stack emission measurements services are UKAS accredited and meet EN 14181 and EN 13284-2 requirements.

EEM deploys a unique Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) remote-sensing system in a self-contained mobile laboratory. The DIAL can be used to monitor many atmospheric pollutants from up to 1 km, providing real-time measurements directly traceable to primary standards and free from contamination. DIAL is recognised as a Best Available Technique, with the methodology standardised in EN17628 developed by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) TC 264.  EEM has the capability for performing Tracer Correlation (TC) assessment of fugitive emissions through deployment of a controlled source of tracer gas and a mobile laboratory capable of measuring multiple gases simultaneously. EEM’s TC method has been validated and has undergone robust evaluation for quality assurance in a range of emission scenarios.

EEM offers long-term monitoring solutions via the Fugitive Emission Distributed Sampling (FEDS) system. FEDS combines a state-of-the-art gas analyser sampling network with a high-resolution reverse dispersion model to deliver quantified emission rates and hotspot identification over many months.

Validation and characterisation of EEM’s own and third-party monitoring methods is integral for intercomparison, development, and continuous improvement. A key step in validation of emission monitoring is through the use of controlled releases of emissions. EEM’s Controlled Release Facility (CRF) is capable of creating emission sources of single gases or complex mixtures across a range of traceable release rates. The CRF can also be used to closely mimic emission sources with different source height and source area characteristics.

Additional services that can be deployed by EEM include the capability for walkover surveys using optical gas imaging and high flow sampling to identify and locate leaks in complex industrial environments, and proficiency testing schemes aimed at performance assessment.  

EEM also works closely with other groups at NPL who can provide adjacent services related to emissions and industrial monitoring. These groups include:

• The Greenhouse Gas Metrology (GGM) group, which works with the UK’s tall tower network and GEMMA programme to help deliver net zero ambitions.
• The Air Quality and Aerosol Metrology (AQAM) group, which provides a range of services related to air quality monitoring, including managing various long-term monitoring stations and instrument-testing in controlled atmospheres.
• The Primary Gas Metrology (PGM) group, which has capability for the production of complex gas standards with multiple compounds to trace concentrations.
• The Climate and Earth Observation (CEO) group, which offers services aimed at analysing and interpreting satellite remote-sensing data.