Interconnectivity And Traceability Applied To Continuous Methane Emissions Monitoring In The Gas Industry
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Alan Vidal
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Abstract
Gas leak surveying and methane monitoring address safety and strategic challenges. The technical processes must take advantage of current technological advances to better serve the gas industry’s needs. The methods presented show the added-value associated to this new approach. Gas network surveying is a technical process involving field data collection requiring a number of manual steps and actions by field personnel. Field technicians have to be deployed on site with gas leak detection instruments, gas leak indications need to be confirmed and survey data communicated to maintenance services who will then take remedial measures. When data is entered and transferred manually, the process is long, resource-intensive, costly and carries the risk of errors. Newly available tools completely change the picture. A new generation of more powerful gas analyzers with sub-PPM sensitivity, quick response time can communicate wirelessly with the latest portable data collection peripherals and devices. GPS, GNSS navigation systems and mapping can also be integrated, providing real-time visibility on detection activity and gas leak pinpointing quality. GAZOMAT’s solution integrates all these closely interacting tools within an Enterprise Application Software that drives the tools, compiles, organizes and distributes the collected information to appropriate parties. The solution for monitoring fugitive methane emissions is a combination of traditional vehicular and pedestrian network survey tools (network survey vehicles and foot surveys using handheld detectors) and fixed sensor stations for remote monitoring of gas sites. The enterprise system makes it possible to collect more data of higher quality (gas concentrations, GPS coordinates, pictures of the leak location, time, date, operator identification, gas analyzer functional tests, etc.). Driving the whole process, from data collection and transfer to detailed report generation for compliance with safety and environmental regulations, the system is designed as a decision-making tool to assist gas operators in the leak remediation process.

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