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Project develops methods to address measurement gap in air pollutants

The project

EMPIR project ‘Metrology for air pollutant emissions’ (16ENV08, IMPRESS 2) is using results from earlier EMRP project ‘Metrology to underpin future regulation of industrial emissions’ (ENV60, IMPRESS) to develop measurement methods and guidelines that will be included in draft documentary standards for newly regulated pollutants, such as ammonia and hydrogen fluoride.

The project has investigated flow measurement uncertainty due to S-Pitot sensor obstructions in narrow exhaust stacks both numerically, through advanced computational fluid dynamics simulations, and through measurements in the VSL laboratory. The S-Pitot flow measurement device is commonly used in industry. New insights into the blockage and wall effect uncertainty sources were obtained and will serve as input to standards for flow uncertainty in narrow stacks.

Progress towards standardisation

The outputs of this work form part of a body of research that will inform potential revision of the relevant flow standard: EN ISO 16911 Stationary source emissions -- Manual and automatic determination of velocity and volume flow rate in ducts -- Part 1: Manual reference method.

This standard will support the EU Industrial Emissions Directive

Master of Science Thesis

In July 2018 Alouette van Hove from project partner TU Delft completed and graduated her MSc studies in aerospace engineering within the IMPRESS II project.

Alouette’s thesis is entitled Towards effective emission regulations: A numerical and experimental study on flow measurement uncertainty in stacks.

This EMPIR project is co-funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the EMPIR Participating States.

EMRP joint research projects are part of EURAMET’s European Metrology Research Programme. The EMRP is jointly funded by the EMRP participating countries within EURAMET and the European Union.

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