Environmental regulations clear the air in Burton

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Aug 11, 2005

Everyone with a professional interest in air quality will wish to attend MCERTS 2005 which is being held in Burton-on-Trent on 12th and 13th October 2005.

Everyone with a professional interest in air quality will wish to attend MCERTS 2005 which is being held in Burton-on-Trent on 12th and 13th October 2005.

The event will provide information on the latest monitoring technologies and clear guidance on how to meet the challenges of the latest environmental legislation.

The conference programme will include technical guidance on legislation and methodologies from the Environment Agency in addition to talks from experts in the fields of gas and particulate monitoring in applications such as industrial emissions, the ambient environment and within the workplace.

For example, guidance will be given on the application and interpretation of EN14181 within the scope of the Large Combustion Plant Directive (LCPD).

Full details of all the presentations can be found on the exhibition website.

Environmental regulations impose limits on industrial process emissions in terms of the volume and concentration of pollutants, and this has created a major need for monitoring equipment.

However, in order for air quality legislation to be effectively enforced, there is a requirement for monitoring data to be accurate, reliable and representative.

Consequently, in the early 1990s, following a period of consultation, an initiative was established to create a monitoring certification scheme, and this became known as MCERTS.

MCERTS is a scheme, established by the Environment Agency to deliver quality environmental measurements.

The scheme provides for the product certification of instruments, the competency certification of personnel, and the accreditation of organisations based on international standards.

MCERTS 2005 is an event comprising a conference, workshops and exhibition, that focuses on air quality monitoring.

It is jointly organised by the Environment Agency, the Source Testing Association, and Environmental Technology (Publications).

Looking forward to this year's event, John Tipping from the Environment Agency comments: "MCERTS 2005 promises to be even bigger and better".

"Over the 18 months or so since the last event MCERTS has made major progress in a number of areas, for example, increased number of certified instruments, certified personnel and accredited laboratories, the launch of a scheme for portable gas analysers and technical endorsement 5 for PM10 etc".

"There is also the extension to direct toxicity measurements and potential extension to landfill gas measurements".

"One further major development has been the introduction of European standard EN14181 for LCPD and WID (Waste Incineration Directive) installations".

"We will be running workshops on this important standard during the two days at Bretby".

Delegate numbers at the 2004 MCERTS event were up by 50% over the previous year, and as such the organisers anticipate that 2005 will also be a sell-out.