Detect and locate methane leaks.

Delivering 24/7 Coverage of Methane Production, Transmission and Storage Infrastructure

ADGiLE is a fixed-mounted methane monitoring solution just unveiled by FLIR. Featuring optical gas imaging (OGI) with comprehensive edge detection analytics, ADGiLE is the oil and gas industry’s solution to meeting environmental stewardship and efficiency goals. The system, featuring a pan-tilt gas imaging camera, edge computing device, connectivity, and FLIR United VMS software within a ruggedized package, can help companies address the ever-evolving requirements for reducing methane gas leaks within oil and gas production, transmission, and storage infrastructure.

Designed for wide-scale site video monitoring and continuous leak detection applied to storage tanks, compressors, separators and many other equipment in the oil and gas industry, ADGiLE offers an industry-first, end-to-end fixed methane detection solution that leverages FLIR’s uncooled GF77a OGI technology, and is consequential to industry demands concerning methane mitigation.

This pairs the GF77a with platform analytics processed at the edge to detect emissions through automatic early detection, quickly pinpointing the leak source. It provides the critical situational awareness on the emission event that isn’t possible with other methane detection technologies, such as satellite and aerial-based detection methods. Data is displayed via the FLIR United VMS software back at the control room, which can be configured with custom alerts, areas of interest, and pre-set imaging pathways for a truly automated experience.

The solution primarily focuses on midstream and high-concentration methane upstream applications. It works to detect and prevent high volume emission events, compared to the company's existing cooled handheld OGI technology, leveraging their edge detection analytics built upon decades of detection data and experience to deliver consistent, accurate results. The system increases both site efficiency and safety, as it operates equally well during the day and in total darkness at safe distances, pending atmospheric and site conditions.

“The industry knows FLIR as the world leader in handheld OGI detection, and now they can access lower cost technology via a completely automated, fixed solution with ADGiLE, featuring everything they need out of the box to quickly pinpoint and then fix large methane leaks,” said Craig O’Neill, Business Development Director, FLIR. “ADGiLE is purpose-built for mid- and upstream methane operations to deliver game-changing results to achieve methane mitigation demands along with internal emission reduction goals. This makes ADGiLE a market leading solution for well site operators, compressor stations, and storage facilities that must invest in methane detection and monitoring technologies.”

FLIR ADGiLE uniquely meets the most serious methane leak detection challenges while providing operational insight to understand emissions that are a part of routine industry processes versus fugitive emission events. The system can also help prevent false readings, saving time and resources by avoiding the need to manually investigate and confirm specific leaks. At the same time, it can still detect intermittent leaks that happen and are too often missed by deployed aerial detection technologies using a wider temporal frequency. It can generate situational awareness that addresses the full range of challenges stemming from various methane emission scenarios.

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@flir @mepaxIntPR  #PAuto

New technology enables the green transition away from natural gas.

Antti Heikkila* explains how GHG emissions can be reduced by replacing natural gas with biomethane, but he says this can only be a viable solution if it is environmentally and financially sustainable.

Antti Heikkila - Vaisala

Countries around the world are urgently seeking alternatives to fossil fuels in order to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and thereby limit global warming. One of the ways in which this can be achieved is by replacing natural gas with biomethane, but this can only be a viable solution if it is environmentally and financially sustainable. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to monitor biogas production continuously so that the process can be optimized. Vaisala has therefore developed monitors that are capable of measuring methane, carbon dioxide and humidity in-line.

Formed over a timespan of millions of years when layers of organic matter decompose deep underground at high temperature and pressure, natural gas consists of methane and small amounts of other gaseous hydrocarbons. Natural gas is therefore a fossil fuel, and its combustion is responsible for a significant portion of global greenhouse gas emissions. For example, according to the USEPA, emissions from natural gas consumption represented 79% of the direct fossil fuel CO2 emissions from the (USA) residential and commercial sectors in 2020.

Spiralling energy costs, supply chain disruption and the GHG emissions associated with the extraction, transport, and combustion of natural gas mean that cheaper, reliable, and more sustainable alternatives to natural gas are required.

As fossil fuels are phased out during the green transition, it has become necessary to find alternative sources of clean energy through innovation. New technology therefore has a vital role to play as we move into a profitable and sustainable era of green energy.

Replacing natural gas with biomethane.
Biogas represents an important green alternative, but only if it is economically viable and able to compete with alternative forms of renewable energy. In-line monitoring of biogas production and the upgrading process to biomethane enable significant production efficiency improvements; making biomethane an economically and environmentally viable alternative to fossil fuels.

Around 75% of the biogas currently produced in the EU is used as a source of local heat and power generation, with almost 20% of biogas being converted to biomethane. According to the European Commission’s RePowerEU scheme, biomethane production is projected to increase tenfold by 2030 and to grow even more rapidly up to 2050. Today, the production cost of biomethane has been estimated to be around 80 euros/MWh, but the European Biogas Association expects this to fall to 55 euros/MWh in the future. These increases in both production and efficiency can only be achieved with the latest technology in process control instrumentation.

Biogas also offers an opportunity for a more circular economy. This is because the feedstock for anaerobic digestion (AD) can include waste products such as food, crop residues, animal manure, and wastewater sludge, and the digestate from AD can be returned to the land as fertilizer.

Reducing methane slip.
Biogas represents an attractive opportunity, but its sustainability credentials would be damaged if methane is allowed to slip into the atmosphere from either the AD reactor or the gas upgrading process. This is particularly important because methane is a powerful GHG; roughly 30 times stronger than carbon dioxide, so it is vital that advanced monitoring and process optimization is employed to lower or prevent any potential emissions.

Renewable energy solutions.
Biomethane is a useful alternative where a gas fuel must be used, or where natural gas is used as a feedstock instead of a fuel. In the chemical industry, for example, natural gas is used as an energy source, and as a raw material for the production of ammonia, which in turn is used to produce fertilizers.

Substantial infrastructure is in place to facilitate the utilization of natural gas, so biomethane represents a logical alternative. However, there will be many instances where fossil fuel energy sources can be replaced by other forms of renewable energy such as wind and solar. Biomethane production must therefore be as efficient as possible if it is to compete, and this is where the latest monitoring technology has a vital role to perform.

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* Antti Heikkilä is an Industry Expert and Product Manager at Vaisala, where he has been in charge of bringing Vaisala’s ground-breaking and sustainable innovations for biogas measurement to market.

@VaisalaSuomi, @VaisalaGroup  @_Enviro_News #PAuto #Energy

Monitoring methane emissions.

Continuous methane emissions monitoring solution for the energy industry Sensirion Connected Solutions has launched Nubo Sphere, its end-to-end solution for supporting customers in the energy industry with locating unintentional leaks and quantifying methane emissions in a cost-effective manner.

The reduction of methane emissions is being addressed by new regulations and ESG standards, investors and the public with a distinct call to action. Many industries, such as the energy sector, must act – and act quickly. However, existing methane detection technologies face several limitations: they only measure periodically and are therefore inaccurate, cumbersome and expensive.

Thus Sensirion Connected Solutions has developed a methane emissions monitoring solution, “Nubo Sphere,” which allows companies in the energy sector to continuously monitor their assets remotely and fulfill new regulations and ESG requirements. Nubo Sphere is an end-to-end solution that provides high-performance emissions detection, location and quantification at a low total cost of ownership. The compact and robust design ensures reliable operation and high-fidelity data from any oil or natural gas infrastructure at all times.

“Sensirion’s unique expertise in environmental sensing, built up over the last 20-plus years, has propelled us to become the go-to supplier for air quality, gas monitoring and flow sensing. Nubo Sphere is here to set new standards in continuous monitoring technology. With its robust, future-proof and easy-to-use design, Nubo Sphere drives actionable data that will streamline operation efforts and address emissions seamlessly, helping to empower customers’ ESG initiatives,” says Susanne Pianezzi, Sales Director at Sensirion Connected Solutions.

As part of Sensirion, a leading global manufacturer of microsensors and systems, Sensirion Connected Solutions can rely on established production processes and high supply capabilities to offer a scalable solution and excellent lead times for customers. 

@sensirion #Energy #Environment 

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.

@AbacoSys @AMETEKInc #PAuto #Oil

Appointment to strengthen methane emissions reductions.

NevadaNano has announced that Naren Prasad joined the company to guide the Hardware enabled SaaS products to reduce methane emissions. Naren will serve as Chief Product Architect and Delivery Officer.

Naren Prasad

“As one of the original developers and innovators of the Advanced Metering Infrastructure industry, Naren has a long history of enabling disruptive transformation in the IoT world,” said Ralph Whitten, CEO of NevadaNano. “He will be a tremendous asset to NevadaNano as we continue to drive innovation in the gas sensing industry, by providing products to reduce methane and refrigerant emissions worldwide.”

Naren brings nearly 30 years of experience to NevadaNano during which he worked in software development for both new and established companies. Throughout his career he has led product development teams to define new business strategies and initiatives and deliver world leading products. 

He has held leadership roles for market leaders including Landis+Gyr, eMeter Corporation (now part of Siemens), and CellNet Data Systems (acquired by Schlumberger). He holds a patent for Message-Bus-Based Advanced Meter Information System with Applications for Cleaning, Estimating and Validating Meter Data. He earned his B.Tech. CSE from the National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli (IND).

@ReachNITT #NevadoNano #PAuto #Environment 

Locating methane leaks reliably.

Sensirion has developed a stationary methane leak detection system - Nubo Sphere. It is designed as a future-proof, end-to-end solution offering high performance at low total cost of ownership, thus changing the state-of-the-art in methane leak detection. It has never been easier to reliably locate and quantify unintended methane emissions across various industries. The deployment of real-time, continuous methane concentration data enables leak detection much earlier than was previously possible through human interaction, ensuring fast, accurate and cost-saving damage control through rapid incident response actions for increased safety and a reduced environmental burden.

Methane (CH₄) concentrations in the atmosphere have increased by more than 150 % since 1750 and are considered a major contributor to global warming. CH₄ has been identified as an even more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2, making an immediate reduction of emissions necessary. Given its short-lived nature, there are actionable options that reduce the environmental burden on a short timescale. In the US alone, around 13 million tons of CH₄are being released into the air each year - enough to heat ten million homes for a year. Studies show, however, that only about 40 % of CH₄ in the atmosphere originates from natural sources such as volcanoes or permafrost soils, while the remaining percentage is caused by human activities. Reducing that portion of the total CH₄ emissions has thus become a priority for leading nations across the globe, as only then will it be possible to achieve the goals of climate initiatives like the Paris Agreement. And although anthropogenic emissions come from a variety of sources, the oil and gas industry represents the energy sector's largest source of emissions, holding the key to responding to the world's climate challenge.

Relying on Sensirion's market-leading environmental and air quality sensing know-how paired with expertise in scaling solutions into high volumes, Sensirion is therefore developing a stationary methane leak detection system, "Nubo Sphere", for use along the whole oil and gas value chain. It is an end-to-end solution for real-time monitoring of methane emissions, offering high performance at low total cost of ownership. The compact and robust system design enables reliable and highly accurate data from any natural gas infrastructure at all times via data upload to the Nubo cloud. It is fast to deploy and easy to use, while two exchangeable sensor cartridges ensure low maintenance expenses and provide a future-proof, sustainable set-up. The system follows the concept of plug and play: mount the Nubo Sphere nodes on-site and start measuring within minutes.

"With Nubo Sphere, we enable various industries, including oil and gas, to locate and quantify methane leaks reliably and cost-efficiently. Sensirion's offering is unique: cost-efficient yet highly reliable, easy to use and maintain, and based on yet another innovative sensor technology from Sensirion. It makes me very proud to provide the oil and gas industry with the right tool to enable its efforts in methane emissions reduction and thus contribute to stopping climate warming", says Susanne Pianezzi, Sales Director at Sensirion. 

On October 12 and 13, Sensirion will participate in the CH4 Connections 2021 conference in Fort Collins (CO USA) The methane emissions conference will highlight energy industry players promoting methane emissions reductions across the energy value chain as a pathway to a low-carbon world by addressing how effective regulations, science-based methane accounting principles, advances in methane emissions research, and leak detection technologies can accelerate the transition to a low-carbon world. Visit the event to talk to Sensirion's experts about the Nubo Sphere solution.

@GasTechnology #sensirion  #Pauto #Environment

Refinery methane analyser.

A refinery required a third-party certified SIL 1 solution to calculate the differential between two analyzers that measure the methane content on the inlet and outlet of a reactor, which breaks down the hydrocarbon levels in the process stream.  The methane level is always higher on the outlet side of the reactor; however, should the differential with the input exceed a predefined setpoint, these higher methane levels could reach flashpoint with a sharp trend that could lead to an explosion. 

After a Hazard and Operability Analysis (HAZOP) of the existing installation was performed, it was determined the refinery needed to mitigate the risk and install an independent SIL1 safety trip solution. Moore Industries designed a methane differential trip Safety Instrumented Function (SIF) and provided the client with an independent Safety Integrity Level (SIL) verification report.

The two independent methane analyzer measurements are sent to the SST Signal Splitters, where one output is used for the differential calculation and the other is transmitted to the Basic Process Control System (BPCS). 

The methane differential is calculated by the STZ Transmitter and sent to the STA Logic Solver, where a differential between inlet and outlet  analyzers exceeding 10% MOL will trip the safety setpoint. In addition, the STA Logic Solver retransmits the calculated methane differential to the Basic Process Control System.

#PAuto 

Methane gas detector.

Ashtead Technology has launched an advanced natural gas detection system that is able to differentiate between different gases and does not require a hydrogen source gas. Developed and manufactured by Inficon, the IRwin® is a portable, intrinsically safe methane specific gas detector with additional capability for LEL, oxygen and toxic gas measurements.

“We have been hugely impressed by the IRwin,” says Josh Thomas, Ashtead Technology’s Regional Sales Manager. “It has been designed to improve the quality of measurements whilst also making the process quicker and easier – by using an advanced infrared sensor the IRwin avoids the need to carry hydrogen, and in combination with a special gas filter, it prevents interference from water vapour, ethanol or exhaust gas.

“The instrument is lightweight and battery powered, so it is simple and comfortable to use, and a wide range of modular accessories are available with different probes for almost any surface or application."

This video below provides a more detailed explanation of the probe options provided by the IRwin.”
Highly sensitive, with a measurement range of 1ppm to 100% methane, the IRwin’s infrared sensor system (patents pending) has a very short reaction and recovery time, which dramatically improves the speed and accuracy of leak detection, whilst preventing false leak alarms. A specially developed GC and sensor combination allows fast distinction between marsh gas and natural gas from all known natural gas sources.

For survey work, an integrated GPS chip allows reliable tracking and wireless Bluetooth communication enables quick and easy data transfer to PC at the end of the day.

Ashtead Technology will offer the fully featured IRwin SXG model for hire, but this, and a range of other models, is also available for purchase. In addition to methane, the SXG is also able to measure ethane, propane, butane, CO2, CO and H2S. “This ability to speciate makes the SXG ideal for a range of environmental applications including landfill, composting and biogas sites in addition to leak detection from piped natural gas networks,” Josh adds.

“By offering rental instruments in addition to every model in the IRwin range for purchase, we aim to meet every individual customer’s financial and application-specific needs, and our team of trained advisers are available to help in the choice of the most appropriate model.”

@ashteadtech #PAuto