Monitoring Mercury Air Emissions

On Thursday 14th October the afternoon session of the AQE 2021 Virtual conference will focus on mercury monitoring and will be chaired by Dr Lesley Sloss. Lesley leads the United Nations Environment Programme Coal Partnership, providing expert advice to the negotiations on the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

Mercury was designated a chemical of global concern by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 2006. This was because of its long-range transport capability in the atmosphere, its persistence in the environment, its toxicity, its ability to bio-accumulate in ecosystems and its harmful effects on human health.

As international regulations drive down the maximum allowable emission levels; methods, standards and technologies need to follow suit. But this can be challenging, given the technical limitations of some methods. Speakers, including Ben Freeman from the Environment Agency, will therefore provide a summary of the mercury monitoring requirements, challenges and solutions. 

Mercury CEMs provide continuous data which creates a better picture of emissions and helps to highlight the causes of emission spikes. For this reason, continuous monitoring is becoming an increasing regulatory requirement for both Large Combustion Plant and Energy from Waste plant. However, CEMs represent a significant capital investment, particularly in comparison with the semi-continuous sorbent trap method, for example, so speakers will compare the relative merits of different approaches.

The AQE conference is free to attend for all pre-registered visitors, your pass will allow you to watch all event content during and after the event both LIVE and on demand. Your pass will also give you networking access to all attendees, speakers and over 150 exhibiting companies.