Division BAT 9 In order to improve the general environmental performance of combustion and/or gasification plants and to reduce emissions to air, BAT is to include the following elements in the quality assurance/quality control programmes for all the fuels used, as part of the environmental management system (see BAT 1):

Initial full characterisation of the fuel used including at least the parameters listed below and in accordance with EN standards. ISO, national or other international standards may be used provided they ensure the provision of data of an equivalent scientific quality;

Regular testing of the fuel quality to check that it is consistent with the initial characterisation and according to the plant design specifications. The frequency of testing and the parameters chosen from the table below are based on the variability of the fuel and an assessment of the relevance of pollutant releases (e.g. concentration in fuel, flue-gas treatment employed);

Subsequent adjustment of the plant settings as and when needed and practicable (e.g. integration of the fuel characterisation and control in the advanced control system (see description in Section 8.1)).