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Title: Comparing facility-level methane emission rate estimates at natural gas gathering and boosting stations

Abstract

Coordinated dual-tracer, aircraft-based, and direct component-level measurements were made at midstream natural gas gathering and boosting stations in the Fayetteville shale (Arkansas, USA). On-site component-level measurements were combined with engineering estimates to generate comprehensive facility-level methane emission rate estimates ('study on-site estimates (SOE)') comparable to tracer and aircraft measurements. Combustion slip (unburned fuel entrained in compressor engine exhaust), which was calculated based on 111 recent measurements of representative compressor engines, accounts for an estimated 75% of cumulative SOEs at gathering stations included in comparisons. Measured methane emissions from regenerator vents on glycol dehydrator units were substantially larger than predicted by modelling software; the contribution of dehydrator regenerator vents to the cumulative SOE would increase from 1% to 10% if based on direct measurements. Concurrent measurements at 14 normally-operating facilities show relative agreement between tracer and SOE, but indicate that tracer measurements estimate lower emissions (regression of tracer to SOE = 0.91 (95% CI = 0.83-0.99), R2 = 0.89). Tracer and SOE 95% confidence intervals overlap at 11/14 facilities. Contemporaneous measurements at six facilities suggest that aircraft measurements estimate higher emissions than SOE. Aircraft and study on-site estimate 95% confidence intervals overlap at 3/6 facilities. The average facility level emission ratemore » (FLER) estimated by tracer measurements in this study is 17-73% higher than a prior national study by Marchese et al.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [4];  [1]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)
  2. Aerodyne Research Inc., Billerica, MA (United States)
  3. Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States); Scientific Aviation, Inc., Boulder, CO (United States)
  4. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States)
  5. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
OSTI Identifier:
1414371
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-6A20-70688
Journal ID: ISSN 2325-1026
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC36-08GO28308
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Elementa
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 5; Journal Issue: 0; Journal ID: ISSN 2325-1026
Publisher:
University of California Press
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
03 NATURAL GAS; 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; methane emissions; gathering; boosting; natural gas; climate change; Fayetteville

Citation Formats

Vaughn, Timothy L., Bell, Clay S., Yacovitch, Tara I., Roscioli, Joseph R., Herndon, Scott C., Conley, Stephen, Schwietzke, Stefan, Heath, Garvin A., Pétron, Gabrielle, and Zimmerle, Daniel. Comparing facility-level methane emission rate estimates at natural gas gathering and boosting stations. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1525/elementa.257.
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Vaughn, Timothy L., Bell, Clay S., Yacovitch, Tara I., Roscioli, Joseph R., Herndon, Scott C., Conley, Stephen, Schwietzke, Stefan, Heath, Garvin A., Pétron, Gabrielle, & Zimmerle, Daniel. Comparing facility-level methane emission rate estimates at natural gas gathering and boosting stations. United States. https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.257
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Vaughn, Timothy L., Bell, Clay S., Yacovitch, Tara I., Roscioli, Joseph R., Herndon, Scott C., Conley, Stephen, Schwietzke, Stefan, Heath, Garvin A., Pétron, Gabrielle, and Zimmerle, Daniel. Thu . "Comparing facility-level methane emission rate estimates at natural gas gathering and boosting stations". United States. https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.257. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1414371.
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@article{osti_1414371,
title = {Comparing facility-level methane emission rate estimates at natural gas gathering and boosting stations},
author = {Vaughn, Timothy L. and Bell, Clay S. and Yacovitch, Tara I. and Roscioli, Joseph R. and Herndon, Scott C. and Conley, Stephen and Schwietzke, Stefan and Heath, Garvin A. and Pétron, Gabrielle and Zimmerle, Daniel},
abstractNote = {Coordinated dual-tracer, aircraft-based, and direct component-level measurements were made at midstream natural gas gathering and boosting stations in the Fayetteville shale (Arkansas, USA). On-site component-level measurements were combined with engineering estimates to generate comprehensive facility-level methane emission rate estimates ('study on-site estimates (SOE)') comparable to tracer and aircraft measurements. Combustion slip (unburned fuel entrained in compressor engine exhaust), which was calculated based on 111 recent measurements of representative compressor engines, accounts for an estimated 75% of cumulative SOEs at gathering stations included in comparisons. Measured methane emissions from regenerator vents on glycol dehydrator units were substantially larger than predicted by modelling software; the contribution of dehydrator regenerator vents to the cumulative SOE would increase from 1% to 10% if based on direct measurements. Concurrent measurements at 14 normally-operating facilities show relative agreement between tracer and SOE, but indicate that tracer measurements estimate lower emissions (regression of tracer to SOE = 0.91 (95% CI = 0.83-0.99), R2 = 0.89). Tracer and SOE 95% confidence intervals overlap at 11/14 facilities. Contemporaneous measurements at six facilities suggest that aircraft measurements estimate higher emissions than SOE. Aircraft and study on-site estimate 95% confidence intervals overlap at 3/6 facilities. The average facility level emission rate (FLER) estimated by tracer measurements in this study is 17-73% higher than a prior national study by Marchese et al.},
doi = {10.1525/elementa.257},
journal = {Elementa},
number = 0,
volume = 5,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Feb 09 00:00:00 EST 2017},
month = {Thu Feb 09 00:00:00 EST 2017}
}
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Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.257
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    Works referencing / citing this record:

    Testing and evaluation of a new airborne system for continuous N 2 O, CO 2 , CO, and H 2 O measurements: the Frequent Calibration High-performance Airborne Observation System (FCHAOS)
    journal, January 2018

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    Aerially guided leak detection and repair: A pilot field study for evaluating the potential of methane emission detection and cost-effectiveness
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    • Vaughn, Timothy L.; Bell, Clay S.; Pickering, Cody K.
    • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 115, Issue 46
    • DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1805687115
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