Evaluating Methods To Estimate Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas Production Facilities Using LES Simulations

Environmental Science & Technology
Pablo E SaideLuca Delle Monache

Abstract

Large-eddy simulations (LES) coupled to a model that simulates methane emissions from oil and gas production facilities are used to generate realistic distributions of meteorological variables and methane concentrations. These are sampled to obtain simulated observations used to develop and evaluate source term estimation (STE) methods. A widely used EPA STE method (OTM33A) is found to provide emission estimates with little bias when averaged over six time periods and seven well pads. Sixty-four percent of the emissions estimated with OTM33A are within ±30% of the simulated emissions, showing a slightly larger spread than the 72% found previously using controlled release experiments. A newly developed method adopts the OTM33A sampling strategy and uses a variational or a stochastic STE approach coupled to an LES to obtain a better fit to the sampled meteorological conditions and to account for multiple sources within the well pad. This method can considerably reduce the spread of the emissions estimates compared to OTM33A (92-95% within ±30% percent error), but it is associated with a substantial increase in computational cost due to the LES. It thus provides an alternative when the additional costs can be afforded to obtain mo...Continue Reading

References

Apr 12, 2012·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Ramón A AlvarezSteven P Hamburg
Apr 16, 2014·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Dana R CaultonBen R Miller
Nov 7, 2014·Environmental Science & Technology·Halley L BrantleyDavid Lyon
Mar 10, 2015·Environmental Science & Technology·Tara I YacovitchCharles E Kolb
Mar 26, 2015·Environmental Science & Technology·Chris W RellaDavid Steele
May 27, 2015·Environmental Science & Technology·Brian J NathanMark A Zondlo
Jul 8, 2015·Environmental Science & Technology·Tegan N LavoieDavid Lyon
Jul 8, 2015·Environmental Science & Technology·Anna KarionPieter Tans
Jul 8, 2015·Environmental Science & Technology·Xin LanAzucena Torres
Dec 9, 2015·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Daniel Zavala-AraizaSteven P Hamburg
Jan 30, 2016·Environmental Science & Technology·Mark OmaraAlbert A Presto
Aug 17, 2016·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Christian FrankenbergRobert O Green

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Sep 12, 2020·Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association·Jacob T ShawRobert S Ward

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Trending Feeds

COVID-19

Coronaviruses encompass a large family of viruses that cause the common cold as well as more serious diseases, such as the ongoing outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19; formally known as 2019-nCoV). Coronaviruses can spread from animals to humans; symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties; in more severe cases, infection can lead to death. This feed covers recent research on COVID-19.

Blastomycosis

Blastomycosis fungal infections spread through inhaling Blastomyces dermatitidis spores. Discover the latest research on blastomycosis fungal infections here.

Nuclear Pore Complex in ALS/FTD

Alterations in nucleocytoplasmic transport, controlled by the nuclear pore complex, may be involved in the pathomechanism underlying multiple neurodegenerative diseases including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Dementia. Here is the latest research on the nuclear pore complex in ALS and FTD.

Applications of Molecular Barcoding

The concept of molecular barcoding is that each original DNA or RNA molecule is attached to a unique sequence barcode. Sequence reads having different barcodes represent different original molecules, while sequence reads having the same barcode are results of PCR duplication from one original molecule. Discover the latest research on molecular barcoding here.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a disease characterized by unexplained disabling fatigue; the pathology of which is incompletely understood. Discover the latest research on chronic fatigue syndrome here.

Evolution of Pluripotency

Pluripotency refers to the ability of a cell to develop into three primary germ cell layers of the embryo. This feed focuses on the mechanisms that underlie the evolution of pluripotency. Here is the latest research.

Position Effect Variegation

Position Effect Variagation occurs when a gene is inactivated due to its positioning near heterochromatic regions within a chromosome. Discover the latest research on Position Effect Variagation here.

STING Receptor Agonists

Stimulator of IFN genes (STING) are a group of transmembrane proteins that are involved in the induction of type I interferon that is important in the innate immune response. The stimulation of STING has been an active area of research in the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. Here is the latest research on STING receptor agonists.

Microbicide

Microbicides are products that can be applied to vaginal or rectal mucosal surfaces with the goal of preventing, or at least significantly reducing, the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Here is the latest research on microbicides.

© 2022 Meta ULC. All rights reserved