The calibration of continuous emission measuring systems(CEMS)

THE CALIBRATION OF CONTINUOUS EMISSION MEASURING SYSTEMS (QAL2, AST, QAL3)

QAL2 (Quality Assurance Level 2), AST (Annual Surveillance Test) and QAL3 (Quality Assurance Level 3) are procedures and tests prescribed by REGULATION Articles 22-28 and by the standard SRPS EN 14181: 2015 and their purpose is to test and calibrate systems for continuous emission measurement (CEMS). Any automatic measurement system (AMS) that monitors the emission of pollutants into the air must be tested in accordance with these procedures.

QAL2 and AST measurements performed at the Thermal Power Plant “Nikola Tesla” were funded by the European Union and were performed in the period 2012 – autumn 2013. The measurements were fully completed and accepted by the supervisory authority, Vattenfall Europe Power Consult East. These measurements are part of the largest project to date for the installation of a system for continuous measurement of emissions of harmful substances into the air in Serbia. By successfully participating in this project, “Aerolab” has demonstrated professional and business ability to work according to the highest European criteria in the field of measuring emissions of harmful substances into the air.

Since then, AEROLAB has gained extensive experience in this field with over 150 performed QAL2, AST and QAL3 tests. Testing procedures according to the standard SRPS EN 14181: 2015 consist of several days of functional tests and parallel measurements by standard reference methods (SRM). By comparing the results given by AMS and the results obtained by SRM measurements, the appropriate calibration equations for AMS are determined through the QAL2 test, and the validity of AMS operation over a multi-year period is determined through AST tests. The QAL3 procedure is a continuous monitoring of the operation of the AMS through the testing of key parameters.