Airly air quality monitors receive independent certification
EDITOR ’ S CHOICE REPAIR THE AIR
AIRLY
Airly air quality monitors receive independent certification
The instrumentation company Airly has announced the award of an MCERTS certificate for its ‘ Airly Air Quality Sensor PM + Gas ’ systems . This means that the Airly particulate matter ( PM2.5 and PM10 ) sensors have been independently verified for qualitative and quantitative measurements , and comply with the Environment Agency ’ s MCERTS Performance Standards for Indicative Ambient Particulate Monitors .
Explaining the value of MCERTS accreditation , Airly CEO Wiktor Warchalowski says : “ Air quality data is used to inform extremely important decisions , so it is vitally important that measurements are accurate and reliable . Third-party verification through schemes such as MCERTS , therefore allows local authorities , consultants and researchers to choose technology with independently proven levels of performance .
“ We already have thousands of sensors operating in the field , but the award of this MCERTS certificate is particularly important because it adds a further layer of credibility to Airly ’ s products and services .”
In order to achieve the MCERT requirements , Airly ’ s sensors were tested in a laboratory and in the field . Assessors also visited Airly ’ s manufacturing facility to verify the robustness of the company ’ s quality management systems .
The field tests were conducted over a 3-month period with two candidate Airly PM + Gas sensor systems , collocated with a reference PM monitor in Birmingham .
Additional testing was undertaken using two Airly Air Quality PM sensor systems and two Airly Air Quality PM + Gas sensor systems .
The two variants were found to agree well , with R2 = 0.998 and slopes close to 1 for both PM2.5 and PM10 . The test data report was submitted by Bureau Veritas to CSA Group , the MCERTS certification body .
Commenting on the results of the tests , Warchalowski says : “ Our sensors have been tested extensively before , but these evaluations , coupled with the MCERTS award , provide Airly customers with the
The world is beginning to recognise the enormous air quality opportunity presented by small sensors , and new players are entering the market with increasing frequency .
confidence that they are using one of the best performing small sensors in the world .
“ It was interesting to note , for example , that the results from the Airly sensors in the Birmingham evaluation did not require any correction factors . Airly customers will also be pleased to learn that the MCERTS certificate applies to both PM2.5 and PM10 over an extremely wide range , 0-1,000 µ g / m3 . This is important , because it means that the sensors can be used at low levels for assessment against hourly , daily and yearly limit values , as well as for monitoring dust levels near development projects , waste management facilities , materials handling sites , industrial processes etc .
“ The world is beginning to recognise the enormous air quality opportunity presented by small sensors , and new players are entering the market with increasing frequency , we therefore urge customers to include MCERTS in their specifications to ensure they achieve the levels of performance that companies like Airly are able to deliver .”
For further information , please visit www . airly . org / en /
28 PECM Issue 65