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Regardless of whether your company follows a voluntary company policy or federal regulatory guidelines, your current LDAR program can benefit from new technologies and approaches geared towards better air quality for your teams and the surrounding communities.
Tip #1: Start with an Optical Gas Imaging (OGI) survey
OGI cameras enable fast and accurate qualifications for leaks.
This is accomplished through initial high-level surveys that capture a broad overview of the facility while providing precise visual tracking of your largest leaks.
This lets your emissions team focus on the pressing issues faster than would be possible with a standard Method 21 processes.
For example, on a recent project, our team was tasked with an initial assessment of a complex facility with many components that were positioned at unusual and sometimes inaccessible heights.
However, through the use of OGI cameras, we were able to identify a leak on a component several stories higher than our technicians (see picture). With a standard Method 21 assessment, this process would have taken much longer and certainly enabled even more fugitive emissions.
Overall, OGI assessments provide benefits in:
- Efficiency: OGI Assessments are often 20x faster resulting in less time on site and reduced costs.
- Accuracy: OGI Assessments show exact leak sources, reducing the effects of costly “Ghost Leaks.”
- Safety: OGI Assessments reduce the need for employees to climb or scale facilities.
- Emission Reduction: OGI Assessments detect larger leaks faster.
Tip #2: Employ real-time monitoring platforms
When you have a large or complex site, it’s difficult to determine where fugitive emissions are coming from. Thankfully, real-time monitoring technologies can help.
“Triangulation Platforms” (see example image) is a system that collects real-time diagnostic information from a wide variety of measuring instruments, including low cost sensors, auto or process gas chromatographs along the fenceline, temporary CEMS systems, or proton-transfer time of flight mass spectrometry mobile van platforms.
These platforms detect emission plumes using meteorological stations, concentrations, and GPS coordinates to map and determine the precise source and location of fugitive emissions.
Using a secure and encrypted cloud platform, customers can keep track of fugitive emissions in real-time. Since the platform utilizes “high-temporal” resolutions, you can expect automatic updates every fifteen minutes, every five minutes, or every minute (depending on your configuration).
Based on extensive testing, the benefits of these systems are clear. Getting an early detection on potential fugitive emissions enables faster and more strategic repairs.
Tip #3: Explore emerging LDAR technologies
As we speak, an incredible amount of new technology is being widely adopted to improve and streamline LDAR programs across the world.
Regardless of your facility’s size or complexity, you should be aware of the following options for optimizing your current LDAR program:
- Proton Transfer Reaction Time of Flight Spectrometer (PTR-TOF-MS): These mobile platforms provide localized ambient readings with extremely sensitive instruments that can capture data points every half-second.
- Open Path Technologies: These long term monitoring and alarm systems are placed along the fenceline and can measure up to 1 km in distance. These systems provide a cost-effective and versatile alternative to mobile platforms and are used extensively in California.
- Drones: These flying devices are equipped with OGI cameras or Tunable Diode Lasers (set to pick up methane frequencies) to capture very sensitive readings from hard-to-reach components in a cost-effective manner.
Bonus tip: Get more insights
Learn more about innovative ways to optimize your LDAR program by listening to our recent webinar, “Tactics and Technology to Streamline Your LDAR Program.”
In this session, Tanya Jackson; Dr. Peter G. Zemek, PhD; and David Berkowitz provide guidance on building a successful LDAR program by bringing together and correlating data efficiently.
For more information about implementing innovative solutions for your LDAR Program, visit www.montrose-env.com.
