Particulate Emission Measurement System for Wet Stacks completes TUV Testing

Accurate particulate emission measurement in wet gas stream processes, such as monitoring after wet scrubber abatement systems and processes where the flue gas falls below the dew point or has water droplet presence can be challenging.

The new PCME STACK 181 WS, developed by PCME Ltd, leading specialists in the design, manufacture and supply of Continuous Particulate Emission Monitors for industrial processes worldwide, has recently completed TUV testing and has been submitted for QAL1 approval. Utilising an extractive approach with heating, this overcomes the problem of interference from condensation and water droplets when using an in-situ particulate monitor after wet collectors.

The system uses an advanced ProScatterTM Light Scatter sensor (PCME QAL 181) which is certified by TUV and MCERTS as QAL1 compliant. With certification ranges covering both 0-15 mg/m3 and 0-100 mg/m3 dust levels and an operational range of 0-200 mg/m3, the sensor is suitable for monitoring the highly abated emissions found after Flue Gas Desulphurisation Plant (FGD). In addition, the instrument is able to monitor a saturated flue gas which is critical for the application of monitoring emissions from a coal fired power plant fitted with a wet FGD system and meets the requirements of
PS-11 and EN 14181.

Importantly, automatic zero and span checks on both the instrument and sample handling system are provided to ensure good quality measurements and to permit early diagnosis of any deterioration in system performance.

Easy and safe operator access to the measurement volume for external auditing with reference materials proves useful in satisfying AST linearity test requirements for EN 14181 compliance and absolute correlation audit for PS-11 compliance.

Flow rates and heater temperatures are continuously monitored in the extractive flow line to ensure any sample line blockage or issues associated with insufficient heating are automatically detected and therefore avoided. Automatic indication when valid measurements are occurring avoids measurement errors during system warm-up.

Connectivity via PCME’s data logging control units provides a variety of industry standard outputs including Ethernet (Modbus TCP), RS232/485 (Modbus RTU), 4-20mA and Relay outputs, plus new GPRS for remote service support. The advanced and powerful graphical interface of the control unit allows for both review of data and for instrument audit, maintenance and operation. Additionally, the instrument can be fully configured via PC-ME Dust Tools PC software suite and downloaded data manipulated for process control and environmental reporting.