Office of Research and Development National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Air Pollution Prevention and Control Division Photo image area measures 2” H x 6.93” W and can be masked by a collage strip of one, two or three images. The photo image area is located 3.19” from left and 3.81” from top of page. Each image used in collage should be reduced or cropped to a maximum of 2” high, stroked with a 1.5 pt white frame and positioned edge-to-edge with accompanying images. Remote sensing to see the invisible helping to control fugitive emissions EPA ORD Science Writer's Tour October 26, 2012, RTP, N.C. E. D. Thoma, Bill Squier – EPA / ORD / National Risk Management Research Laboratory, 109 TW Alexander Drive, Durham NC NRMRL Fugitive and Area Source Group Source and Fenceline Measurements Methods and Technology Development

Fugitive air pollutant emissions A hard problem to solve Fugitive emissions refer to most anything that doesn’t come out of a stack or tail pipe……(think of leaks) The problem with fugitive emissions is that you don’t know where they are.

Is something leaking?

Fugitive air pollutant emissions Why do we care about them? Fugitive sources can be all around us. ‐ i ndustrial leaks, refineries, product and energy distribution ‐ natural gas pipeline, gas stations, energy storage systems Fugitive sources can emit: ‐ g reenhouse gases ‐ flammable gases ‐ pollutants bad for health (hydrogen sulfide, benzene, etc.) ‐ pollutants that increase ground-level ozone (volatile organic compounds) Fugitive sources can be in close proximity to people. Leaks can cause worker safety issues. Fixing leaks quickly helps the environment and can save our companies money.

Low cost sensor networks Fugitive air pollutant emissions the science solution To find and fix fugitive emissions we need to detect and measure pollutants over extended areas Open-path optical systems Mobile inspection systems (GMAP)

Optical Remote Sensing (ORS) Fugitive Emission Source ORS Source Retroreflector ORS instruments provide detection over a distance so we can find a leak where ever it is located Some ORS tools allow us to “see” a leak Some ORS tools allow us to quantify the size of the leak

Open-Path Instruments UV Diff. Optical Absorption Spectroscopy Tunable Diode Laser (scanning) Forward-Looking InfraRed (leak imaging) Fourier Transform InfraRed (scanning)

Seeing invisible leaks with infrared video

Denver CO > 25,000 active wells Denver CO > 20,000 active wells 8 Oil and gas production (large number of potential sources)

Many types of emissions FLIR Video File

Source: Microsoft Bing Maps (© Microsoft Corporation Pictometry Bird’s Eye © 2010 Pictometry International Corp ) 10 As the separation distances of potential sources to populations decrease, the need for periodic inspection increases

Off-site assessment with GMAP-REQ ( Geospatial Measurement of Air Pollution – Remote Emissions Quantification) driving path wind direction 11 Spike in CH 4 indicates emission CH 4 Position vehicle in the plume Acquire methane (CH 4 ) and wind data for 20 minutes Pull a canister sample for volatile organic compound (VOC) information

12 Four GMAP REQ systems in the field EPA R5 EPA ORD EPA NEIC Waste Management

13 Fenceline measurement can enable new regulatory approaches Facility fenceline monitoring Passive Sampling Low-cost sensors

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In Summary Fugitive sources can be all around us and close to where we live. Fugitive sources can affect air quality and worker safety. New remote sensing tools are allowing the invisible to be seen Finding and fixing big leaks quickly has many benefits. We can use remote sensing technology to better protect the environment and save our companies money.