PRTRval: A software tool for validation of emissions data Abstract
Characteristics
A significant amount of emissions comes from industrial facilities and include acid gases, photo-oxidants, heavy metals, etc. It is necessary to set a register of these substances to characterize emissions from a given region.
The Environmental Modelling research group of the University of Santiago de Compostela has developed a methodology for evaluating the emissions reported to the Pollutants Release & Transfer Register (PRTR, former EPER), allowing to be incorporated with a greater guarantee to said registers. This methodology is based on the comparison with an inventory which is updated annually. PRTRval has been developed according to this methodology.
Companies that emit some pollutants into the atmosphere must notify to the national and/or regional authorities the parameters associated with these emissions. The quality of the data obtained can be scarce and often not reflect reality because there are no standards and appropriate to collect data and extract relevant and accurate information from these tools. The quality of the data obtained can be scarce and often does not reflect reality because there are no standards and appropriate tools to collect data and extract relevant and accurate information.
Stage of development A fully functional software application that acts as a tool to support the validation of industrial emissions has been developed.
Innovative aspects Improves the validation of industrial pollutants emissions by the authorities. Comparison with reference emission inventory. Improves process activity statement of the companies.
More information: http://www.ibridgenetwork.org/usc/prtrval
In many cases, due to the characteristics of the emissions reported in the PRTR, they cannot be always compared to measurements, so the validation methodology included in PRTRval is based on the consistency between the emission sources and their reported information. This methodology leads to the acceptance, amendment and rejection of the reported emissions before including them in the Register, or even later, as a verification procedure prior to the use of emissions with other either scientific or environmental management purposes. PRTRval easily allows entering all related emission data from the companies, and generating a report containing the entered data and the comparative reference emissions. PRTRval works in a web environment through a browser and it has been implemented for the Regional Government of Galicia, Spain; but the software package can be easily adapted for other regions and/or authorities. Currently, it is available in English, Spanish and Galician languages.
PRTRval: A software tool for validation of emissions data Authors José Antonio Souto González, Fabio Carrera Chapela, María Dios Noceda, Marta Morán Hermida, César Pombo Tato y Juan José Casares Long. Environmental Modelling research group. Department of Chemical Engineering. University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Fig. 1. Diagram of the validation methodology developed and implemented in PRTRval by the Environmental Modelling research group.
Intellectual property rigths Copyrighted material Collaboration seek License agreement Fig. 2. Screenshot of the PRTRval application.
Agreement to adapt the software to particular needs Scientific publications Dios, M. et al. (2014) PRTRVal: A software tool for the validation of E-PRTR emissions data. Inter. J. Environ. Pollut. (in press)
Contact: Fernando Pardo Seco, PhD e-mail:
[email protected] Telephone: +34 881815526 FAX: +34 881815575 Edificio EMPRENDIA - Campus Vida 15782 Santiago de Compostela
