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A Direct Measurement Study of Air Emissions from Oil & Natural Gas Production Pads in the Denver-Julesburg Basin
Citation:
Thoma, E. A Direct Measurement Study of Air Emissions from Oil & Natural Gas Production Pads in the Denver-Julesburg Basin. Workshop on Air Quality and Oil and Gas Development in the Rocky Mountain Region, Boulder, CO, October 21 - 22, 2013.
Impact/Purpose:
Poster presented by R8 (A. Eisele) for Workshop on Air Quality and Oil and Gas Development in the Rocky Mountain Region, to be held in Boulder, CO on October 21–22, 2013.
Description:
EPA and industry cooperators conducted a one-week emission measurement study of 23 oil and natural gas well pads in the Denver-Julesburg Basin in July, 2011. The purpose of the study was to characterize emissions from individual production components and to evaluate the performance of a commercial high-flow emissions measurement instrument in wet-gas environments. An infrared camera survey was first conducted on each well pad to identify emitting components. The identified leaks or vented emissions were then measured using the high-flow instrument to determine volumetric emission rates. This study did not include an evaluation of combustion device emissions. A total of 100 emitting components were measured with the following defined subgroup breakdown (43% thief hatch, 11% pressure relief device, 16% produced water tank, 17% separator-related, 3% well-related, and 10% other components). Evacuated canister samples were acquired at the output of the high-flow instrument on a subset of emitting components (n=33) to produce speciated methane and VOC profiles for subgroups and to compare and correct combustible concentration sensor readings from the high-flow instrument. An overall instantaneous VOC site emision rate was determined and compared with condensate production rates for each well pad; however, no correlation was evident. This may indicate that the component leaks and the efficacy of emissions control systems play a large role in actual observed emissions and may be an important factor affecting inventory accuracies (require further study). Measurement limitations of the high-flow instrument in wet gas environments were observed and will be discussed.