Test & measurement
HOW DIGITAL MEASUREMENT IS CHANGING INDUSTRIAL EMISSIONS MONITORING
ABB’s Gary Egerton, sales manager – Process Gas Analyser Team UK, explains how digital technologies are helping companies monitor their emissions more effectively and achieve regulatory compliance.
1. WHY IS EMISSIONS MONITORING SO CRITICAL TODAY?
Industrial emissions are in the spotlight as governments work to improve sustainability and grapple with their obligations under international climate treaties. Public pressure is also growing for process operators to be good neighbors by minimising their environmental impact. This leaves companies facing ever tighter regulations designed to protect air, water, and soil quality. The growing pressure means that process operators in regulated sectors need to provide reliable, verifiable data about their emissions. As well as relying on continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS) to achieve regulatory compliance, companies also depend on them to help safeguard their reputations and, increasingly, to help optimise the efficiency of their processes.
2. WHAT ARE CONTINUOUS EMISSION MONITORING SYSTEMS (CEMS)? CEMS continuously collect and analyse emissions data and are typically deployed across regulated industries such as power generation, cement, metals, waste incineration and marine, among others. CEMS use strategically positioned sensors to monitor specific contaminants according to the needs of each sector, but common targets include carbon, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, heavy metals and particulates.
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3. HOW IS DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION RESHAPING EMISSIONS MONITORING? Today’s smart digital monitoring systems are easier to calibrate and maintain than their analog predecessors, delivering reliable, verifiable data that companies and regulators can trust. They make it easier for companies to achieve compliance and reduce the likelihood of incurring fines. Availability requirements for flue gas monitoring systems in potentially polluting industries are often very high to ensure compliance with environmental regulations. That leaves little room for downtime, whether it’s for planned maintenance or breakdown repairs. Digital systems help reduce downtime in several ways. For example, the ability to carry out remote diagnostics enables a faster response to any failure, resulting in improved availability. The digital transition is also enabling companies to shift their maintenance programs toward predictive maintenance. This applies data analysis and condition monitoring to the information gathered by the CEMS, enabling users to spot maintenance issues before they cause a failure, thus minimising unscheduled downtime. As well as helping operators to maintain compliance, real-time insights and improved data integrity can help them to optimise their processes and improve their cybersecurity.
In contrast, companies that do not transition to digital monitoring technologies face a growing risk of non-compliance and associated penalties.
More-frequent system failures and manual interventions will lead to higher costs, and hard- pressed maintenance teams will increasingly struggle to source the instrumentation expertise they need.
4. HOW DO ABB’S DIGITAL SOLUTIONS SUPPORT THESE CHANGES? ABB’s CEMS have evolved over decades to become best-in-class solutions for measuring and reporting regulated emissions. Our solutions are constantly improving to remain at the leading edge. Digital innovations provide great value for money, thanks to features like remote diagnostics, cyber-secure condition monitoring, and automated calibration.
For example, ABB Ability is a range of digital solutions that includes our world-class gas analyzers and expert services. For the most demanding applications, our ABB ACF5000 analyzer can measure 15 components simultaneously. And when new components become mandatory or emission limits change, the system can be easily updated via a software upgrade.
August 2025 Instrumentation Monthly
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