Long-term continuous monitoring of methane emissions at an oil and gas facility using a multi-open-path laser dispersion spectrometer

A method for methane emissions monitoring at industrial facility level was developed based on a high precision multi-open-path laser dispersion spectrometer combined with Bayesian analysis algorithms using Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) inference. From the methane path-averaged concentrations spatially distributed over the facility under study, together with the wind vector, the analysis allows detection, localization and quantification of fugitive methane emissions. This paper describes the very first long term (3 months), continuous (24 h/7 days) deployment of this monitoring system at an operational gas processing and distribution facility. The continuous monitoring system, made of the combination of the open-path high-precision (<10 ppb) methane concentration analyser and the data analysis method, was evaluated with controlled releases of methane of about 5 kg/h for short periods of time (30–60 min). Quantification was successful, with actual emission rates lying well within the quoted uncertainty ranges. Source localisation was found to lack accuracy, with biases of 30–50 m in the direction of the line of sight of the spectrometer, due to the short duration of the controlled releases, the limited wind vector diversity, and complications from air flows around buildings not accounted for by the transport model. Using longer-term data from the deployment, the MCMC algorithm led to the identification of unexpected low intensity persistent sources (<1 kg/h) at the site. Localisation of persistent sources was mostly successful at equipment level (within ~20 m) as confirmed by a subsequent survey with an optical gas imaging (OGI) camera. Quantification of these individual sources was challenging owing to their low intensity, but a consistent estimate of the total methane emission from the facility could be derived using two different inference approaches. These results represent a stepping stone in the development of continuous monitoring systems for methane emissions, pivotal in driving greenhouse gas reduction from industrial facilities. The demonstrated continuous monitoring system gives promising performance in early detection of unexpected emissions and quantification of potentially time-varying emissions from an entire facility.