Localization and Quantification of Production Site Methane Emissions using sUAS Mounted Sensors
Abstract
Mitigation of methane emissions from oil and gas production receives considerable attention in Alberta because it may provide a way to help Canada meet its 2015 Paris Climate Accord commitments. However, effective mitigation on large spatial scales requires fast and accurate localization and quantification. Here, we present results of a multi-year study assessing the performance of sUAS-mounted methane sensors such as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Open Path Laser Spectrometer (OPLS) for localizing and quantifying natural gas emissions via controlled releases and field tests at a conventional oil production site in the Alberta Drayton Valley. For these studies, the OPLS, with 10s of parts-per-billion per second sensitivity, and other methane sensors were integrated into different small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUASs) and deployed at test sites to localize and quantify methane emissions in a multi-step approach. The first step involved scouting the site to localize emissions. During the second step, specific flight patterns were flown downwind of the facility to enable flux estimates of selected emissions. Three separate field campaigns were carried out at the same oil and gas production site in summer, autumn, and winter conditions to determine system performance under different conditions. Estimates of the economics involved in conducting these measurements at the facility-level are presented and a vision for upscaling operations to include regional measurements are discussed.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFM.A24L..02C
- Keywords:
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- 0305 Aerosols and particles;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE;
- 0320 Cloud physics and chemistry;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE;
- 0321 Cloud/radiation interaction;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE;
- 0394 Instruments and techniques;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE