Monitoring stack emissions: guidance for selecting a monitoring approach

The main reasons for carrying out stack emission monitoring are to:

• comply with environmental legislation
• collect data for emissions inventory compilation
• calibrate continuous emission monitoring systems (CEMS)
• collect data for environmental impact assessments
• collect data to assess process efficiency and process control
• assess the performance of a pollution-control device (abatement system)

This document describes the UK Environmental Agency's overall approach to stack emission monitoring. It focuses on:

• the role of MCERTS
• different approaches to stack emission monitoring
• sampling strategy
• the hierarchy of different methods