identification of methane emissions in an urban setting
DESCRIPTION
Identification of Methane Emissions in an Urban Setting. ESRL Global Monitoring Annual Meeting May17-18, 2011. Collaborators in this effort. Nathan Phillips & Lucy Hutyra – Boston University Jocelyn Turnbull & Colm Sweeney – NOAA/ESRL Paul Shepson & Maria Obiminda Cambaliza – Purdue - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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Identification of Methane Emissions in an Urban SettingESRL Global Monitoring Annual Meeting May17-18, 2011
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• Nathan Phillips & Lucy Hutyra – Boston University• Jocelyn Turnbull & Colm Sweeney – NOAA/ESRL• Paul Shepson & Maria Obiminda Cambaliza – Purdue• Eric Crosson, Chris Rella, & Sze Tan – Picarro, Inc.• Robert Ackley – Gas Safety, Inc.
Collaborators in this effort
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• As an extension of the INFLUX work– Identify methane source locations and gather information
on methane flux signals (relative magnitudes). • Provide prior knowledge for inversion models.• Data to help validate inversion model results.• Information to help improve flux measurements from aircraft.• Data could help to model cross-wind dispersion in an urban
environment.
Objectives of this effort
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Method: Measuring Methane Plumes to Determine Source Locations
MethaneSource
Wind
methane plume
• Map out methane concentrations while driving along roads and highways.– CH4: 2 ppb precision at 0.5 Hz.
– GPS data
– Wind velocity
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Method: Identifying methane source locations
Sources Reconstruction
Guidance from Simple Gaussian Plume Model
Source locations calculate from plumes
methane source and plume
roads
Four source locationsWinds: 0 to 360
o in 20
o steps
Atmospheric stability class C
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Model Results: Winds from only two orthogonal directions…….source location looks possible.
Class A
Sources ReconstructionAtmospheric Stability
Class F
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From Models to Reality: Measurements in Indianapolis
108.560 108.561 108.562 108.563 108.564
5
10
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25
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Me
tha
ne
(p
pm
)
Days after January 1
PlumeRUN1-4_19_2011-Data-landfill
Met
hane
Co
ncen
trat
ion
(par
ts p
er m
illio
n)
Methane Measurements Taken While Driving
Distance Traveled
Methane measurements while driving through plume
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“Methane Maps” of Indianapolis
Wind direction, 23km/hr
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3
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Some Sources are easy to Identify
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2
3
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5
> 25 ppm
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Others are NOT so Easy
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45
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Methane Data Taken the Next Day
Wind direction, 23km/hr
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78
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Reproducibility of Plume Measurements
45 minutes
Repeated landfill plume measurements taken while driving 2 km from source. (Location: Danville, IN)
- Wind speed = 3.8 ± 1.2 km/hr
- Source Flux 7,000 grams / minute
1.5 km
High variability in plume shape. Take advantage by……
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Stationary Tracer Method to Assess Fluxes
• Fixed location 1300 m downwind of landfill
• Natural variation in wind direction & wind speed will cause variability in signal as the plumes sweep across the detection point
• High correlation indicates good overlap between plumes
met
hane
acet
ylen
e
Landfill
Wind
methane plume
tracer plume
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Methane Flux Determination (Location: Danville, IN)
• Plot methane vs. acetylene.
• Slope of line gives ratio of emission rates.
= 7.5 moles / s
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A Very Complex Methane Map: Boston
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Natural Gas Leaks in and around Boston
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Natural Gas Leaks Destroying Vegetation
• Leaks in aging natural gas pipelines are killing trees all across the northeast.– Natural gas leaks can kill trees by displacing oxygen in the soil and
drying out their roots.– 7,500 to 10,000 trees affected in Boston area alone.
• Several cities are asking for damages in excess of $1M each.
http://natgaspollutes.com
Flux (cubic feet / m2-day) at surface
Gas in air 8” below surface
0.237 26%1.407 48%1.007 80%0.012 63%
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• Identification of methane source locations by driving around looks possible.
• Flasks need to be analyzed.• Need model to reconstruct methane probability
distribution from plume data.• Need to take more systematic data.
Summary