Essential Emissions Monitoring Equipment Your Business Needs
If you run a manufacturing plant, meeting quota and market demand shouldn’t be your only concern. Since you operate one of the largest forms of air pollution on earth, you also have an environmental responsibility to monitor your emissions.
There are many dangers to air pollution – the most pressing one being global warming. If climate change persists, this will also have an adverse effect on your personal life, such as higher agriculture prices. As a result, there are government-mandated limits to plant emissions. You ought to keep your emissions within government-regulated limits if you want to stay in business.
But there’s a way to go about your day-to-day operations and still keep a clean and green plant. Listed below are essential emissions monitoring equipment every business needs. These will help you keep track of your business’ environmental impact.
Smoke Tester
Smoke testers are devices that monitor the emissions of a stack. Various smoke testers will seek out different properties of a stack emission. But ultimately, the purpose of these smoke testers is to monitor if emissions at a plant or industrial site are above government-regulated limits.
Source: Monsol
One such example would be a system known as Continous Opacity Monitoring Systems (COMS). These devices sandwich a stack and measure a smoke’s opacity by firing light from one end, and measuring the light received on the other end.
Smoke opacity ranges from 0% to 100%. The idea is that the more opaque smoke is, the thicker it is and therefore, the higher its concentration. Shown above is the EnergyTech 101/102 Non-Compliance Opacity Monitor. It’s a low-cost smoke tester that provides your business with data on the opacity of your plant’s stacks.
Flue Gas Analyzer
A flue gas analyzer is a handy tool that functions like a portable emissions monitoring system. It checks for pollutants within the flue. The device helps you monitor gas emissions to ensure they are within safe limits. Most flue gas analyzers measure carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.
A flue gas analyzer will also allow you to assess air quality in the open. That’s useful for measuring air quality around your facility. This versatility makes it a must-have for businesses with a combustion facility on their site.
The handyness and ease-of-use of a flue gas analyzer allows maintenance workers to detect noxious gases on the fly. Having one around will let you know if something’s wrong so that you may take corrective actions.
Particle Counter
Particle counters are like flue gas analyzers – they scan the air for particles to ensure emissions are within safe limits. The particle counter is usually connected to a flue or smoke stack.
Particle counters can detect particles ranging from 300 nanometers to 10,000 nanometers, making them ideal for air emissions monitoring. You can use particle counters in construction sites, for example, to check fine debris levels in the air. More commonly, a particle counter is used for monitoring the air quality of emissions at your site.
The importance of a particle counter, like the flue gas analyzer, is to determine if the air quality is within acceptable limits. You can also use it to measure ambient air quality.
Nanoparticles Meter
Some particles are smaller than 100 nanometers. Nanoparticles are particles ranging from 1 to 100 nanometers, well below the average detection of particle counters.
A nanoparticles meter counts and analyzes the diameters of particles within ambient air. High-end nanoparticle meters can measure the concentration and size of particles as small as 10 nanometers, or 0.1 microns. However, their hard limit is often at 700 nanometers or 0.7 microns.
You’d want to use a nanoparticles meter on your stack if you have dry flue gas cleaning equipment in place. This counter will allow you to see if your particle cleaners – such as house filters and electrostatic precipitators – are working.
Some nanoparticle meters can even be used indoors to check for residual flue gas in places it shouldn’t be in. Your plant’s office, for example. WIth nanoparticle counters, you’ll see millions of particles in seemingly clean air.
Gas Leak Detector
These can be wall-mounted, or handheld. Gas leak detectors are commonly used to look for propane leaks around your kitchen. This prevents fiery or explosive accidents. Besides combustible gases, some models may detect acetone, ammonia, butane, radon, methane, among others.
You’d want to prevent any leaks from your stacks. The reason is because gas leaking from the stack won’t go out the way it’s meant to, thus bypassing all the emissions stack monitoring systems you have in place. Gas leak detectors catch those leaks so that you may patch the stack up.
This monitoring also detects if your umbilicals and pipelines are leaking. You wouldn’t want your workers inhaling gas that’s meant to be spewed out the stack.
Concluding Thoughts
If you run a plant, you have a heavy responsibility to keep your air pollution within government-set limits. Depending on where you’re operating, there are laws that can shut your business down if you do not abide by these regulations. So it’s important to monitor your plant’s emissions.
A smoke tester assesses the fumes of your stack. It monitors if you’re going beyond limit. A flue gas tester is a handy device that can scan and analyze gases in stacks and in open air. Particle counters and nanoparticle meters scan for smaller-than-dust particles lingering about stacks and seemingly clean air. A gas leak detector pinpoints the location of a gas leak, preventing any noxious gas spewing out in places it shouldn’t be. A gas leak detector may also prevent workplace-related accidents such as fire and toxic gas leaks.
Have these emission monitoring equipment in place for your site. This will gather crucial data that will help you monitor your air pollution. Play your part as a responsible habitant of this planet.
