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Title: Field Deployment of a Portable Optical Spectrometer for Methane Fugitive Emissions Monitoring on Oil and Gas Well Pads

Journal Article · · Sensors
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/s19122707 · OSTI ID:1526648

We present field deployment results of a portable optical absorption spectrometer for localization and quantification of fugitive methane (CH4) emissions. Our near-infrared sensor targets the 2$$ν_3$$ R(4) CH4 transition at 6057.1 cm−1 (1651 nm) via line-scanned tunable diode-laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS), with Allan deviation analysis yielding a normalized 2.0 ppmv∙Hz−1/2 sensitivity (4.5 × 10−6 Hz−1/2 noise-equivalent absorption) over 5 cm open-path length. Controlled CH4 leak experiments are performed at the METEC CSU engineering facility, where concurrent deployment of our TDLAS and a customized volatile organic compound (VOC) sensor demonstrates good linear correlation (R2 = 0.74) over high-flow (>60 SCFH) CH4 releases spanning 4.4 h. In conjunction with simultaneous wind velocity measurements, the leak angle-of-arrival (AOA) is ascertained via correlation of CH4 concentration and wind angle, demonstrating the efficacy of single-sensor line-of-sight (LOS) determination of leak sources. Finally, source magnitude estimation based on a Gaussian plume model is demonstrated, with good correspondence (R2 = 0.74) between calculated and measured release rates.

Research Organization:
International Business Machines Corp., Armonk, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
Grant/Contract Number:
AR0000540
OSTI ID:
1526648
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1613644
Journal Information:
Sensors, Vol. 19, Issue 12; ISSN 1424-8220
Publisher:
MDPI AGCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 14 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Localization and quantification of trace-gas fugitive emissions using a portable optical spectrometer
  • Zhang, Eric; Teng, Cheyenne C.; van Kessel, Theodore G.
  • Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE) Sensing XIX https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2305174
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