iv UK Focus - Air Monitoring MCERTS for Air
MCERTS is the Environment Agency's (EA) Monitoring Certification Scheme. The scheme provides a framework within which environmental measurements can be made in accordance with the EA’s quality requirements. The scheme is aimed at manufacturers, users and operators. The EA has appointed Sira as its chosen Certification Body to operate the MCERTS certification schemes.
Monitoring Emissions to Air
EN14181 - “Quality Assurance of Automated Measuring Systems” - has seen the most significant change in the emissions monitoring arena in recent times. Compliance with EN14181 is a legal requirement under both the Large Combustion Plant Directive (LCPD) and the Waste Incineration Directive (WID).
Selection, commissioning and operation of Automated Measuring System (AMS) will be subject to EN14181. Failure to comply with the requirements of EN14181 may well result in the contravention of operating Permits with obvious consequences, and also expensive re- validation of the installed systems.
To comply with EN14181, an AMS must be shown to meet QAL 1 requirements; i.e. it must meet certain performance characteristics as stipulated in EN ISO14956. Instrument performance must be validated in ALL cases by field trials. MCERTS certification according to EN15267 provides this validation and meets the required standard. The certified instrument must also meet the monitoring requirements of the specific process or application.
MCERTS is now mature in the air monitoring field, and nearly 15 years experience has been gained, with the first standard for CEMS equipment published in 1998. Current MCERTS product conformity certificates are located on the Sira website. The performance standards cover the following:
• Continuous emission monitoring systems according to EN15267 • Continuous ambient air monitoring systems • Indicative ambient particulate monitors • Portable emission monitoring systems Environmental Data Management Software
MCERTS Personnel certification
The MCERTS personnel competence scheme enables stack- emission monitoring personnel to be formally certified as ‘competent' based on experience, training and examination. The scheme provides assurance to regulatory authorities that stack emission monitoring is fit for purpose and capable of providing results of the required accuracy and reliability. Users of the scheme enjoy the confidence that it is formally recognised by regulatory authorities within the UK.
Reader Reply Card No. 103
Air Quality May Move Up the Political Agenda in 2012
The next 12 months will see a substantial increase in awareness of the issue of air quality in the UK and a renewed focus on solving the problem, according to air quality monitoring experts, Enviro Technology (UK). With poor air quality now shortening the life expectancy of people in the UK by an average of seven to eight months and costing society up to £20 billion per year, Enviro Technology is predicting the whole issue of air pollution will move up the national agenda in the next 12 months and beyond as more and more people are affected by the UK’s poor air quality and the Government faces the potential prospect of EU fines for breaching pollution limits.
According to the Government’s recently published Air Quality report, 40 out of the UK’s 43 assessment zones are failing to meet EU targets and poor air quality is now shortening the lives of some 200,000 people in the UK by an average of two years.
In fact, studies suggest that living near busy roads could account for 15-30% of new cases of asthma in children and a similar percentage of cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and coronary heart disease in adults aged 65 and over.
Against this backdrop, environmental campaigners such as Environmental Protection UK (EPUK) and the Healthy Air Campaign health, led by EPUK and supported by a number of transport, health and environment NGOs, are upping the ante to increase public awareness and understanding of the health impacts of air pollution in light of the Government’s failure to tackle the issue head on.
Steve Read, Managing Director of Enviro Technology, believes that over the coming year, there will be a large-scale shift in attention towards tackling air pollution once and for all, particularly in the year of the Olympics when all eyes will be on London and visitors from across the globe will be flocking to the Capital.
Enviro Technology predicts the Government will have to make improving air quality a key priority in 2012 and needs to encourage local authorities to communicate air pollution levels to the community in a clear and concise manner and advise how air quality can be improved by making simple behavioural changes such as encouraging people to get out of their cars and use public transport more.
Steve Read continued: “Emissions from road traffic are still the most significant source of air pollution in the UK due to the levels of NOx and PM10 it emits. This pollution is released at street level where it is inhaled by those who
live and work or visit densely populated urban areas. These particulates and NO2 air pollution are invisible killers and it is vital that the public is made aware of how they can reduce their exposure to harmful pollutants and take positive steps to reduce emissions.
Reader Reply Card No.
Emissions Monitor Receives MCERTS
104
Quantitech (UK) has announced that the new HORIBA PG 250 SRM has been awarded an MCERTS certificate, verifying that the instrument employs
Standard Reference Methods to analyse CO, NOx, SO2, CO2 and O2 to the high standards required by the Environment Agency.
The new PG250 SRM version includes a Paramagnetic analyser for Oxygen and offers improved measuring ranges for Carbon Monoxide.
Reader Reply Card No. IET March / April 2012
www.envirotech-online.com 105 Reader Reply Card No. 106
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