Revised Estimation Method for Emissions from Automated Plunger Lift Liquid Unloadings

Pacsi, Adam P.; Sullivan, David W.; Allen, David T.

doi:10.3390/environments7040025

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 16 publications

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“…Thus, the typical compressor start-up, compressor blow-down, and liquid unloading with a plunger lift (7-200 kg, Allen et al, 2015) would have to be observed shortly after release to be detected by satellite. Liquid unloadings without plunger lifts tend to have larger releases (400-700 kg, Allen et al, 2015, Pacsi et al, 2020, and so may be visible for up to one hour after release. Thus, the releases larger than 50 kg/hr would be detected by satellite.…”

Section: Plumementioning

confidence: 99%

Using Frequent, High-Resolution Remote Sensing to Identify Intermittent and Overlapping CH4 sources in Oil and Gas Development Regions

Alvarado¹,

Dayalu²,

Hogan³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The oil and natural gas industry needs accurate and frequent information on methane CH4 emissions from all of their facilities globally in order to effectively reduce emissions. Here we describe the development of requirements for a constellation of satellites to provide frequent data on point source CH4 emissions from the oil and gas industry. Three types of sources were examined: isolated continuous plumes with emissions rates of 50 kg hr-1, intermittent CH4 releases from activities such as compressor start-ups, and overlapping continuous plumes. The dispersion model SCICHEM was used to simulate the dispersion of methane plumes and intermittent releases for typical meteorology in the Permian Basin, and a plume mask and integrated mass enhancement (IME) algorithm were applied to identify and quantify the emissions. The precision and ground sampling distance of the future satellite instrument were varied to determine the required precision and horizontal resolution of the satellite instrument. We find that quantifying CH4 point source emissions as small as 50 kg hr-1 by remote sensing requires a ground sampling distance of 30-60 m and a CH4 column precision of 0.5-1.0% for the range of conditions analyzed. Detecting intermittent sources is also possible with the above instrument specifications if the puff is observed within 15 min of emission. Plumes of similar source strengths more than 0.5 km apart can be separated with existing plume identification approaches but separating sources closer than that or with very different emission rates will require further development of plume identification techniques.

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Section: Plumementioning

confidence: 99%

Using Frequent, High-Resolution Remote Sensing to Identify Intermittent and Overlapping CH4 sources in Oil and Gas Development Regions

Alvarado¹,

Dayalu²,

Hogan³

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Catalytic Heaters at Oil and Gas Sites May be a Significant yet Overlooked Seasonal Source of Methane Emissions

Festa-Bianchet,

Mohammadikharkeshi,

Tyner

et al. 2024

Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett.

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Successful reduction of oil and gas sector methane emissions to meet near-zero intensity targets requires the identification and mitigation of all possible sources. One potentially important source is catalytic heaters, which have largely escaped attention in regulatory and mitigation efforts despite being ubiquitous at upstream production sites in cold climate regions. This study reports direct in situ measurements of the exhaust streams of 38 natural gas-fired catalytic heaters at upstream production sites in British Columbia, Canada. All heaters in the sample showed consistently poor methane conversion with mean destruction efficiencies of 61 ± 5% while releasing 235 [+31/–28] g of methane per cubic meter of fuel. Although individual units are generally small methane sources (mean of 0.28 ± 0.04 kg/h), their prevalence means they could represent 6% of the total provincial upstream methane inventory and as an aggregate methane source could be 5× more significant than abandoned wells. Notably, these heaters are seasonal sources whose emissions would be missed in measurement campaigns occurring solely in summer months. However, additional measurements from a small number of heat medium burners demonstrate that, where feasible, methane emissions can be reduced by approximately 425× by replacing catalytic heaters with centralized heat systems.

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Revised Estimation Method for Emissions from Automated Plunger Lift Liquid Unloadings

Cited by 2 publications

References 16 publications

Using Frequent, High-Resolution Remote Sensing to Identify Intermittent and Overlapping CH4 sources in Oil and Gas Development Regions

Using Frequent, High-Resolution Remote Sensing to Identify Intermittent and Overlapping CH4 sources in Oil and Gas Development Regions

Catalytic Heaters at Oil and Gas Sites May be a Significant yet Overlooked Seasonal Source of Methane Emissions

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