Versatile advanced mobile natural gas leak detection system

Shin-Juh Chen; Nicholas F. Aubut; Michael B. Frish; Kevin Bendele; Paul D. Wehnert; Vineet Aggarwal

doi:10.1117/12.2663631

15 June 2023 Versatile advanced mobile natural gas leak detection system

Shin-Juh Chen, Nicholas F. Aubut, Michael B. Frish, Kevin Bendele, Paul D. Wehnert, Vineet Aggarwal

Proceedings Volume 12516, Next-Generation Spectroscopic Technologies XV; 125160S (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2663631
Event: SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing, 2023, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

The need to rapidly detect, locate and repair natural gas leaks from natural gas infrastructure has become ever more urgent since methane is recognized as a potent greenhouse gas and is contributing to the global climate change. An optical gas sensor based on mid-infrared lasers and the method of backscattering tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy is developed and provides gas concentration measurements with parts per billion by volume sensitivity. Ethane is a secondary component of natural gas. Concurrent methane and ethane measurement discriminates natural gas from biogas. The ability to approximate emission rate and leak location helps to prioritize repairs. This dual-gas optical gas sensor weighs about 2 kg, is battery-powered and is designed to be easily installed and removed from survey vehicles. A scattering target placed 1-m away from the gas sensor unit provides an open-path configuration for the laser beams to analyze ambient air. While the vehicle is traveling at 10 m/s, this gas sensor package is sensitive to cm-scale gas plumes due to a sample frequency of 100 Hz with data output rate at 10 Hz. Gas concentrations, GPS, and wind information along the survey route are collected wirelessly and processed with a computing tablet. Cloud-based data analytics further process the survey data. Early blind survey testing covered 54 natural gas leaks and 7 sewer emissions. Nearly 100% find rate for all true natural gas leaks was achieved with very low false positives and negatives. Leak indications were verified with follow-up survey with boots on the ground.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Shin-Juh Chen, Nicholas F. Aubut, Michael B. Frish, Kevin Bendele, Paul D. Wehnert, and Vineet Aggarwal "Versatile advanced mobile natural gas leak detection system", Proc. SPIE 12516, Next-Generation Spectroscopic Technologies XV, 125160S (15 June 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2663631

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