Monitoring of methane emissions from industrial activities

Purpose and goal

The purpose was to develop measurement methods that can be used to reduce Sweden´s emissions of the climate gas methane. The goal was to develop a drone-based measurement method for methane that can be reliably and efficiently used to map and quantify methane emissions. The validation test shows that this can be done with a measurement error of approx. 10% for simple sources. The tests at real facilities (LNG terminal, refinery, landfill, water treatment) showed that the method worked at all of these, but that it needs to be used sensibly and with repeated measurements to ensure quality.

Expected results and effects

Two methods based on a highly sensitive laser have been developed for drone-based methane leak measurement, i.e. the wall and the tracer gas method. A validation study showed that the measurement error was about 10%, but the uncertainty assessment shows larger errors for more complex sources. Methane emissions were measured at approximately 220 kg/h and nitrous oxide emissions at 3 kg/h. The results show that drone measurements of methane are a valuable tool for mapping methane concentrations from different types of industrial sources.

Planned approach and implementation

Two drone-based methods have been developed based on a fast, light, and sensitive laser spectrometer. The work included the development of hardware and software for measurements as well as the development of the data analysis methodology for the wall method. A validation study was carried out with controlled source gas releases and then the methods were tested at several industrial facilities together with the project´s partners. This included a water treatment plant, 4 landfills, an LNG terminal as well as a refinery.