OGMP 2.0 FUGITIVE EMISSIONS SAMPLING

Fugitive emissions are gases released from pressurized equipment due to leaks and other unintended causes.  They mostly result from industrial/petrochemical, oil & gas activities and contribute to air pollution and so, climate change.

For petrochemical companies, fugitive emissions = safety concerns, lost product and economic loss.

But for the wider community fugitive emissions also present other more concerning risks and hazards …

  • In situations where large amounts of flammable liquids and gases are contained under pressure, leaking compounds increase the risk of fire and explosion.  Fugitive Emissions can also pose long term health risks to workers and local communities.
  • Methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions can leak from pressurized process equipment through valves, pipe connections, mechanical seals, or related equipment. They can also occur at evaporative sources such as waste water treatment ponds and storage tanks.

To minimize and control leaks operators carry out regular leak detection and repair activities. Until recently this involved relying on gas detectors to identify the presence of leaks and then determine appropriate actions. ‘Bagging techniques’ might then have been used to deduce volumetric measurements of lost product.

However new technologies are now revolutionizing the detection, measurement and reporting of fugitive emissions leading to improved environmental and safety outcomes.

Specialist cameras such as the Opgal EyeCGas and Konica Minolta GMP02 allow operators to visually scan for fugitive emissions.  This equipment greatly simplifies the process of identifying leaking components and delivers significant efficiency gains over traditional scanning/identification methods.

Additionally the use of a special flow sampler allows operators to calculate the actual volumes of lost product.  Samplers replace traditional bagging techniques and are far more efficient.  Heath Services use in the field, sell and rent the Addglobe GFM (Gas Flow Meter) for determining flow rates.  For hard-to-reach places or difficult environmental circumstances our qualified thermographers also utilise QOGI software with our gas cameras to perform calculations that can be used for reporting purposes.