1 research outputs found
Methane Emissions from Process Equipment at Natural Gas Production Sites in the United States: Pneumatic Controllers
Emissions
from 377 gas actuated (pneumatic) controllers were measured
at natural gas production sites and a small number of oil production
sites, throughout the United States. A small subset of the devices
(19%), with whole gas emission rates in excess of 6 standard cubic
feet per hour (scf/h), accounted for 95% of emissions. More than half
of the controllers recorded emissions of 0.001 scf/h or less during
15 min of measurement. Pneumatic controllers in level control applications
on separators and in compressor applications had higher emission rates
than controllers in other types of applications. Regional differences
in emissions were observed, with the lowest emissions measured in
the Rocky Mountains and the highest emissions in the Gulf Coast. Average
methane emissions per controller reported in this work are 17% higher
than the average emissions per controller in the 2012 EPA greenhouse
gas national emission inventory (2012 GHG NEI, released in 2014);
the average of 2.7 controllers per well observed in this work is higher
than the 1.0 controllers per well reported in the 2012 GHG NEI