The Minitir
Volume 3, Number 5
May 2000
601N00005
The Newsletter of the ETV Advanced
Monitoring Systems (AMS) Pilot
State Regulators "Can Hardly Wait" for Mercury CEMs
Proceed with plans to conduct verification testing of
continuous emission monitors (CEMs) for mercury.
That was the consensus of participants representing a
variety of perspectives at a meeting for GEM vendors.
The meeting was held April 18 at U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) facilities in Research Triangle
Park, NC, and was co-hosted by EPA and Battelle.
Battelle is EPA's partner for the Advanced Monitoring
Systems (AMS) pilot in the Environmental Technology
Verification Program.
Eight vendors and 20 observers attended the meeting,
including regulators from four states. State regulators
indicated they were extremely interested in having ETV-
verified performance data on mercury CEMs, instruments
that can provide real-time emissions data from such
facilities as incinerators and coal-fired electrical power
plants. (See comments on the next page.)
U.S. EPA is considering regulating mercury emissions
from coal-fired power plants nationwide, which might
require the use of mercury CEMs in such facilities.
Meanwhile, states have the authority to approve these
technologies for use within their borders. Members of the
AMS pilot's air stakeholder committee assigned a high
priority to testing mercury CEMs.
The purpose of the April meeting was to assess interest in
verification testing of mercury CEMs and seek input for a
draft verification test/quality assurance (QA) plan, which
is being prepared by Battelle. Comments were invited on
the readiness of commercially available mercury CEMs,
necessary test procedures, reference methods to be used
for comparisons, and possible test schedules.
"Our approach to developing a test/QA plan is to involve
vendors as much as possible in the initial session, then to
develop a conceptual plan and submit it for comment to
vendors, AMS stakeholders who monitor the testing
process, EPA representatives, and expert peer reviewers,"
said Dr. Thomas Kelly, Battelle's test leader for the AMS
pilot.
A two-phase test is planned. Phase 1 is scheduled to begin
in August and last approximately two weeks. It will be
conducted at a pilot-scale combustion facility operated by
the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Division
(APPCD) of EPA's Office of Research and Development
in the National Risk Management Research Laboratory
(NRMRL) at RTF. The pilot facility will provide to each
instrument combustion flue gas spiked with mercury
solutions and other components, in addition to clean
calibration gases, based on an elemental mercury standard
gas, with added interferants.
Parameters planned to be verified during Phase 1 are
relative accuracy, calibration/zero drift, calibration error,
precision (i.e., repeatability at stable conditions),
interferences, response time, and data completeness.
Phase 2 is expected to be conducted at a full-scale facility
yet to be determined. Separate verification statements and
reports will be issued for each phase and for each
participating company.
Continued on nextpagt
Tom Kelly of Battelle provided background
information to meeting attendees about possible
verification testing of mercury CEMs.
The AMS pilot is one of 12 pilots in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental
Technology Verification Program. ETV was established to accelerate the development and com-
mercialization of improved environmental technologies through third-party verification testing and
reporting of the technologies' performance. The ETV process provides purchasers and permitters
with an independent assessment of the technology they are buying or permitting and facilitates multi-
state acceptance. For further information, contact Helen Latham at Battelle, 505 King Ave., Columbus,
Ohio 43201-2693; Phone 614-424-4062; Fax 614-424-5601; E-mail lathamh@battelle.org.
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Mercury OEMs (continued from page 1)
Representatives of several groups and agencies indicated they may
collaborate in the testing, including the U.S. Department of Energy,
which operates incinerators at several of its sites and funds a group
identifying cross-cutting technologies. Also indicating support for
testing mercury CEMs was a representative of EPRI, a nonprofit
organization providing science and technology-based solutions in
energy and power generation fields.
Vendors interested in participating in the mercury CEMs verification
test should contact Tom Kelly at Battelle (Phone 614-424-3495, Fax
614-424-3638, E-mail kellyt@battelle.org. For additional information
about mercury CEMs, refer to the February 2000 issue of The Monitor
(Vol. 3, No. 2), which is accessible on the ETV website at
http://www.epa.gov/etv/07/07_main.htm.
What They Thought about the
Mercury CEMs Meeting
Participants in the mercury CEMs meeting in April represented a
variety of interests—from technology vendors to state regulators and
permitters—but their reactions to the one-day meeting were quite
similar and positive. Here are excerpts.
* The meeting was very positive. It was useful and eye-opening and valuabk in
representing different perspectives. From the state regulator's position, it is just
what we need. It also ties in to two regional plans for environmental
priorities—add rain and mercury emissions. We've been waiting for this like
cats waiting for mice!
John Shea
New England Governors' Conference, Boston, MA
* This was a good presentation and a unique opportunity to see EPA
representatives and vendors working together. It is important for us to be able
to identify instruments that can monitor for mercury but my primary interest is
the technical breakthrough feature of it. ..that captured my imagination. I
would appreciate seeing the draft test protocol and following the process.
Kevin McDonald
Maine Department of Environmental Protection
* The meeting was very well conducted and made the vendors feel comfortable in
participating. I got a lot out of the meeting and want to folkw along with your
progress and receive the test protocol Mercury is a big issue in Florida.
Martin Costello
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
* The way the meeting laid out the issues and proposals was quite good.
John Bosch
U.S. EPA
Second Round of
NO/NO2 Testing
Three companies with portable NO/NCh
monitors participated during May in a
second round of verification testing at
Battelle's facilities in Columbus, OH. They
are Bacharach, Pittsburgh, PA; Land
Combustion, Bristol, PA; and COSA
Instruments Corp., Norwood, NJ. In
January 1999, five companies submitted
NO/NC>2 instruments for testing. They
received verification statements and reports
in September 1999.
Note to Vendors:
For additional information about upcoming
verification tests, please contact the
following Battelle staff:
Mercury CEMs, NO/NOz analyzers,
and for general information about all
AMS pilot verification tests — Tom Kelly,
614-424-3495 or kellyt@battelle.org.
Fine particle monitors, onboard vehicle
emission monitors — Ken Cowen, 614-
424-5547 or cowenk@battelle.org.
Optical open-path monitors—Jeff Myers,
614-424-7705 or myersjd@battelle.org.
Portable water analyzers, multi-
parameter water probes - Adam Abbgy,
614-424-5484 or abbgya@battelle.org.
Upcomini Eveits
June 18-22, 2000
A&WMA 93rd Annual Conference &
Exhibition, Salt Lake City, UT. Don't
miss the ETV panel discussion at the
opening technical session, 10 a.m., Monday,
June 19.
October 2000
Combined AMS pilot air and water
stakeholder committee meetings. Dates
and location to be announced.
Visit the AMS pilot on the Web at
http://www.epa.gov/etv/07/07_main.htm.
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