Demonstration of VOC Fenceline Sensors and Canister Grab Sampling near Chemical Facilities in Louisville, Kentucky

Abstract

Experimental fenceline sensor pods (SPods) fitted with 30 s duration canister grab sampling (CGS) systems were deployed at a site near chemical facilities in Louisville, KY, from 4 June 2018 to 5 January 2020. The objective of the study was to better understand lower cost 10.6 eV photoionization detector (PID)-based volatile organic compound (VOC) sensors and investigate their utility for near-source emissions detection applications. Prototype SPods containing PID sensor elements from two different manufacturers yielded between 78% and 86% valid data over the study, producing a dataset of over 120,000 collocated pair fenceline measurements averaged into 5-min datapoints. Ten-second time-resolved SPod data from an elevated fenceline sensor signal day are presented, illustrating source emission detections from the direction of a facility 500 m west of the monitoring site. An SPod-triggered CGS acquired in the emission plume on this day contained elevated concentrations of 1,3-butadiene and cyclohexane (36 parts per billion by volume (ppbv) and 637 ppbv, respectively), compounds known to be emitted by this facility. Elevated concentrations of these compounds were observed in a subset of the 61 manual and triggered CGS grab samples acquired during the study, with winds from the west. Using novel wind-resolved visualization and normalization approaches described herein, the collocated pair SPod datasets exhibited similarity in emission source signature. With winds from the west, approximately 50% of SPod readings were above our defined theoretical detection limit indicating persistent measurable VOC signal at this site. Overall, this 19-month study demonstrated reasonable prototype SPod operational performance indicating that improved commercial forms of lower cost PID sensors could be useful for select VOC fenceline monitoring applications.

A Framework to Survey a Region for Gas Leaks Using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

“…Furthermore, sensors close to the ground may fail to detect leaks when heat and wind disperse the gas to higher altitudes, being out of reach of sensors [14], [35]. For such reasons, stationary sensor solutions are typically deployed close to gas production facilities or high risk areas [5], [28].…”