The emission testing group at ORTECH is one of the largest and ORTECH has conducted many compliance emission tests with direct involvement with Regulatory bodies including but not limited to Environment Canada, Ontario Ministry of the Environment (Technology Standards Section, Standards Development Branch) and the USEPA.  ORTECH has multiple employees with Qualified Stack Testing Individual (QSTI) accreditation. ORTECH is the only Canadian company with emission testing personnel accredited in all four categories. For more information on QSTI, click here .

Over the past 30 years, ORTECH has maintained very positive rapport and has received complementary feedback from regulators regarding our capabilities, experience, quality of work, and resources in conducting emission testing programs.  Our experience and reputation for quality helps streamline the regulatory review of pre-test plans and emission test reports.

ORTECH is committed to providing staff with the safety equipment and training needed to maintain our excellent safety record.  Safety training programs include but are not limited to fall protection, respirator and SCBA, WHMIS and near miss / critical injury reporting.  ORTECH staff has completed tests under the North American recognized Qualified Source Test Individual (QSTI) program.

Air Pollution Control Equipment Specification and Verification />

ORTECH is a leader in providing clients with high quality data required for design specifications for new pollution control systems and verification of the level of efficiency of existing pollution control systems.  This type of equipment verification often requires the use of complex test methods necessary for particle size determination or scrubber efficiency calculations, and the innovation of experienced field personnel to develop new test equipment to meet the needs of the process.  ORTECH has extensive experience in the use of tracer gases such as SF6 as a surrogate to evaluate the effectiveness of pollution control techniques.

CEM Equipment Specification, Verification and Auditing

ORTECH has aided clients in the petroleum, cement and power sectors among others in developing and maintaining performance evaluation programs for continuous emission monitoring systems (CEMS) to ensure facilities are in compliance with the requirements of the site specific permit such as Certificate of Approval (Air).  These programs are designed to ensure the accuracy and completeness of CEMS data used to fulfill other regulatory reporting requirements such as Ontario Regulations 194/05 (Industry Emissions – Nitrogen Oxides and Sulphur Dioxide), 397/01 as amended by 193/05 (Emissions Trading) or 452/09 (Greenhouse Gas Emission Reporting) or other annual emissions reporting requirements such as the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) and Ontario Regulation 127/01 (Airborne Contaminant Discharge – Monitoring and Reporting).

ORTECH has expertise in a wide range of quality control activities included in a performance evaluation program, as outlined in Environment Canada Report EPS 1/PG/7 (Protocols and Performance Specifications for Continuous Monitoring of Gaseous Emissions from Thermal Power Generation), such as:

• develop and review quality assurance/quality control manuals
• quarterly performance evaluations (cylinder gas test and flow test)
• semi-annual performance evaluations (operational test period (OTP) and relative accuracy test audit (RATA))
• annual performance evaluations (independent inspection and availability)
• training

Emission Inventory Support

ORTECH is experienced in conducting compliance quality site-wide emission testing programs.  The emission data measured during compliance quality emission testing can be used in support of the preparation of an Emission Summary and Dispersion Modelling (ESDM) Report, for a Certificate of Approval application and/or annual emission reporting.

By combining our emission testing services with our dispersion modelling and consulting expertise, ORTECH can assist in developing comprehensive emission inventories in a timely and cost effective manner.

Fugitive Source Emission Sampling

The latest in monitoring methods can be employed to offer “in plant” fugitive air measurements.

Stack (Point Source) Emission Sampling

The stack testing team at ORTECH has undertaken some of the largest and most complex emission testing programs in Canada.  Our clients have included many of the largest corporations in the country with testing programs encompassing a wide range of industries including energy, cement, pulp and paper, steel, petroleum, chemical and automotive sectors.  ORTECH has extensive experience in the use of recognized sampling protocols for a range of contaminant groups including but not limited to:

• semi-volatile organic compounds
• volatile organic compounds
• particulate matter and particle size distribution
• metals
• acid gases
• combustion gases

Specialty Testing Programs

ORTECH has worked with numerous clients and other consultants to develop test plans for very specific needs.  Examples of these studies include a research program to determine the conversion rate of nitric oxide to nitrogen dioxide at various concentrations for the chemical sector, and tracer gas studies at cement plants to determine the destruction removal efficiency of cement kilns for VOCs.  Emission testing programs have also been performed for clients with highly toxic and explosive gas streams requiring a test crew with the experience to recognize these hazards and the training to deal with them.

Related Services

• Dispersion Modelling Services