Systems for long-range methane detection system.

System yields faster analysis and repair of oil and gas operations to reduce the accidental leakage of methane.

FPGA cards are to be supplied into a basin-wide methane scanning and monitoring system by Abaco Systems. The system yields faster analysis and repair of oil and gas operations to reduce the accidental leakage of methane, which accounts for about 10% of US greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The initial win of $350K has a large prospective upside through ongoing development.

Pete Thompson, vice president of product management for Abaco Systems, said, “Abaco’s commitment to innovation is clearly evidenced in the design and ongoing use of our FMC104 and FMC108 for research into eye-safe, long-path laser systems and now long-distance gas detection systems. We are thrilled to be a part of research paving the way with groundbreaking technologies that change the future of emissions mitigation efforts.”

The continuous monitoring system employs centralized eye-safe laser beams spanning regions measuring multiple square miles to quickly detect, locate, and size methane leaks in a dense infrastructure. What began in a university research lab later expanded into an ongoing commercial product that shifts the industry paradigm away from on-site time-intensive monitoring of oil wells and natural gas production facilities. Instead of waiting weeks for data to be received and interpreted, action can be taken much faster, reducing emissions, and lowering costs. Abaco’s expertise in RF and FPGA design, innovative space-saving heatsink design, and longstanding relationship with the academic institution led to selection of the company’s FMC104 and FMC108 FPGA mezzanine cards for this system.

Both the FMC104 four-channel FPGA mezzanine card and the FMC108 eight-channel FPGA mezzanine card are fully compliant with the VITA 57.1-2008 standard. These cards allow for flexible sampling frequency control, analog input gain, and offset correction through serial communication with a carrier card. Equipped with power supply and temperature monitoring, they offer several power-down modes to switch off unused functions. Used in this application as digitizers, these cards bring proven technologies capable of low-cost continuous monitoring for fast methane leak detection and repair. Their inventive heat dissipation design allowed for a less constrained environment and decreased overall costs by eliminating the need for additional heatsinks.

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