Field Trial of Methane Emission Quantification Technologies

Abstract

Abstract Governments in the U.S, Canada, Europe and other countries have promulgated methane mitigation regulations, and many companies have undertaken voluntary programs beyond regulatory requirements. As programs expand, emerging technology developers have responded with the development of multiple monitoring, detection and quantification systems for methane emissions. Methane detection and quantification systems operate at multiple spatial and temporal scales and when these methods are compared against each other and against inventories of methane emissions, analyses must carefully match spatial and temporal scales. This field trial compares multiple methane detection and quantification methods and compares the measurements to engineering estimates of emissions. Engineering estimates of the detailed temporal patterns of methane emissions at oil and gas production sites reveals the challenges of comparing measurements of individual sources that are not exactly synchronized. Because some detection and quantification methods can interfere with one another, most inter-comparisons are based on asynchronous measurements and approaches for inter-comparing ensembles of measuements are suggested.