Forging a path to emissions reduction, but first an assessment
Leaks in the gas industry are extremely expensive. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), methane (CH4) is 25 times as effective as carbon dioxide (CO2) at trapping heat within the Earth’s atmosphere.1 Over the last two centuries, atmospheric concentrations of methane have more than doubled. Greenhouse gas (GHG) is estimated to be responsible for approximately a quarter of the historic levels of warming in the world today.
Not to ignore the environmental costs to the Earth; the costs to industry are massive as well. Fugitive emissions account for approximately 7% of all methane getting into the atmosphere, and it’s estimated that operators lose 2.3% of all gas extracted through leaks every year. In 2021, the costs to the industry regarding methane leaks reached $19 billion. This year, it is predicted to rise even above that number.
Even without such a commercial driver, the impetus for industry to reduce this waste would be compelling. Governments around the world looking to drive toward net zero are toughening regulations on emissions generally with particular focus on fugitive emissions and/or leaks in the oil and gas industry.
In the U.S., methane emissions are central to the EPA’s plan released last year to require operators to detect and repair leaks. Their aim is to slash methane leaks from oil and gas operations by almost three-quarters from the levels detected in 2005 by 2035.2 In the EU, meanwhile, the European Commission is also proposing to crack down by introducing penalties for leaks and potentially banning routine flaring and venting, which are commonly used to control methane levels in facilities.3 The latter’s impact will likely be more drastic because while fugitive emissions account for about 7% of methane escaping, venting accounts for 37%.4
The Global Methane Pledge launched by the E.U. and U.S. a year ago now has more than 100 countries that have agreed to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030.
“To limit warming to 1.5 degrees C and avoid near-term tipping points, the world must rapidly reduce methane emissions in addition to decarbonising the global energy sector,” the governments said in a joint statement announcing the pledge. Beyond governments, investors and the public are also increasingly pressuring companies to address the issue.
Unfortunately, most systems of monitoring emissions are not up to the task. Traditional approaches will increasingly struggle to meet government requirements or business needs as operators pursue their own greenhouse gas reduction strategies. Complying with current ordinances is oftentimes nearly impossible for the average operator. As such, the entire system requires an overhaul to meet modern problems with modern solutions.
Existing leak detection and repair (LDAR) programs are usually manual, labour-intensive, costly and time-consuming. Approximately 90% of fugitive emissions come from flanges, pressure relief devices, valves and pumps that proliferate across upstream wells and downstream facilities. In an average refinery, for example, there may be over 75,000 connectors and valves. On a large facility, over 200,000, all requiring manual inspection on foot with wand-based sniffers. There are many problems with inspecting this equipment in this manner.
Importantly, this process is inefficient and human error and equipment failure at every level. While operators attempt to be as effective and reliable as possible, mistakes will always be made, and equipment can prove unreliable at any time. Furthermore, there are other significant consequences.
The first is that inspections are sporadic. The scale of the task and the expense and labour involved means many flanges are checked only when maximum permission allows at the end of a cycle. This means that leaks can persist for months before detection, and second, that over-reporting emissions is common. In the absence of any proof to the contrary, when a leak is found, it must be assumed to have started immediately after the last inspection. As businesses seek to reassure stakeholders of their seriousness in tackling emissions, that has both commercial and reputational costs. Over-reporting of leaks ensures that the company is more liable than would be otherwise the case should the emissions be detected in a timely fashion and corrected. Ideally, inspections would be automated to reduce the labor cost and done constantly, but thus far this has not been the industry standard to date.
The second consequence is that, given the work is mainly manual and paper-based, the data gathered is rarely used effectively. The lack of digitized work processes makes it difficult to analyse, manage audits, or track trends. This also makes reporting more difficult, as paper-based documents can be lost or accidentally destroyed whereas a fully-digital system does not have these risks.
While there is increasing pressure to detect and address leaks quicker, the only option for many would be to significantly increase headcounts for more regular rounds in an environment where both labour shortages and competitive pressures argue for the opposite. In most cases, it is impractical. Instead, operators choose to bear the emissions costs and opportunities lost.
But that needn’t be the case.
Sourcing a better way
There have been some attempts to address the weaknesses of traditional LDAR programs. Cameras with gas cloud imaging set on drones or even aircraft or satellites can be used to capture methane emissions more regularly. But they cannot pinpoint the sources of a leak, which remains a laborious manual task. When an emission is detected, operators must still manually inspect the nearby location to find the faulty equipment.
Instead, industry leaders have started to transition to a more digitized approach, with a real-time methane monitoring solution based on cost-effective wireless sensors just recently developed. Low-energy sensors that cover more plant areas than traditional detectors provide a far more efficient and powerful solution. This system provides a wide range of benefits.
Firstly, and most obviously, it enables operators to detect leaks and identify their source quickly, eliminating the costly and time-consuming manual labour. Operators can use the information to prioritize repairs, address the most-pressing leaks first and avoid downtime in operating systems. In upstream and midstream operations, automated quantification of emissions and user-configurable alarms can immediately alert operators to critical product losses at remote and unmanned locations. Downstream, in refineries and chemical plants, automated emissions monitoring can rapidly locate and quantify the source of leaks to improve maintenance efficiency and reduce both losses and environmental damages.
Crucially, it also captures and digitizes the data to enable not only accurate and easy reporting and audits but to allow for analysis in order to properly identify trends and optimize operations. That can help identify design issues and other problems leading to leaks and ultimately shift the LDAR from a reactive to a proactive stance. In the future, the data could also help drive predictive maintenance regimes.
Nor is it just leaks: closer monitoring and analysis could identify the operational issues resulting in higher levels of flaring and venting, which constitute over five times the level of methane emissions compared to leaks. Many sites today simply have no way of measuring their venting emissions, leaving them unable to develop a proper solution to a costly problem.
Perhaps the most important point: with an enterprise-level, near-real-time view across all sources, the solution provides true visibility and transparency for emissions data. This is vital for regulatory reporting and public accountability. But it’s also a crucial driver for businesses’ own emission reduction strategies. It finally enables them to determine a baseline and benchmark for emissions data against which to set targets, measure their progress and provide evidence of success.
Many operators’ road to emissions reduction will be long and potentially challenging. However, if a starting point is not measured, a goal is impossible to delineate.
A better solution
With efforts to stay ahead of the Global Methane Pledge and the EPA’s plan to reduce methane leaks, companies across the industry are pledging their commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions. By identifying concrete sustainability goals and incorporating science-based targets into their plans, industry leaders and their customers will be able to work towards a carbon-free future.
The increasing significance of global climate policy trends indicates that innovative tools like wireless gas detector real-time methane monitoring solutions are growing in necessity and will be essential in helping companies achieve their targeted net-zero rates.
By utilizing these new technologies, accidental leaks will be detected far earlier and corrective action may be taken to prevent further emissions into the environment. Gas cloud detection cameras allow for near-instantaneous notification of a leak that might otherwise lead to an environmental issue.
Additionally, the data collected from monitoring these systems will allow operators to further prevent any environmental damage while ensuring they are maintaining compliance with government legislation. Further, by cross-referencing past data against current operational statistics, companies can verify their best standard operations are in place to meet all health, environmental and safety standards being enacted.
Steve Lindsay is the business development director, Honeywell Process Solutions. He is responsible for the growth of industrial processes and personal safety, as well as environmental, health and safety solutions. Lindsay strives to produce outcomes that solve SIS, EHS and ESG challenges in the energy industry, partnering to produce outcomes that solve SIS, EHS and ESG challenges in the energy industry. He has been with Honeywell for over 30 years.
4 https://www.catf.us/resource/benchmarking-methane-emissions/
