Method and system for locating and quantifying fugitive emission leaks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023375431-A1
Application number	US-202318120602-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 13, 2023
Priority date	May 17, 2022
Publication date	Nov 23, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method and system for locating and quantifying fugitive gas emission leaks includes obtaining gas sensor data and wind direction data from a plurality of sensors and weather stations located proximate a given area of interest. The gas sensor data and the wind direction data is validated to remove erroneous values and to merge the gas sensor data with the wind direction data to provide time synchronized gas sensor data and wind direction data over a given time interval. The time synchronized gas sensor data and wind direction data is segmented for each gas sensor location into wind direction bins containing a concentration of the gas levels in each bin. The area of interest is divided into a grid of cells and the bins projected on the grid cells for each gas sensor location along with the level of gas contained in the bins. The grid cells are then grouped into one or more contiguous grid cells having gas levels above a predefined level and a boundary area is calculated containing the grid cells with a gas level above a threshold to identify a potential leak area. The potential leak area is matched with a prior calculated leak area to identify the source location of the emission leak.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for locating and quantifying fugitive emission leaks, comprising the steps of:
obtaining gas sensor data from a plurality of gas sensors and wind direction data from at least one weather station, the plurality of sensors and the at least one weather station located proximate a given area of interest; validating the gas sensor data and the wind direction data to remove erroneous values; merging the gas sensor data with the wind direction data to provide time synchronized gas sensor data and wind direction data over a given time interval; segmenting the time synchronized gas sensor data and wind direction data for each location of the plurality of gas sensors into wind direction bins containing a concentration of gas levels contained in each bin.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
dividing the area of interest into a grid of cells and projecting the bins on the grid cells for each gas sensor location along with the level of gas contained in the bins.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the method further comprises:
grouping the grid cells into one or more contiguous grid cells having gas levels above a predefined level;

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the method further comprises:
calculating a boundary area containing the grid cells with a gas level above a threshold to identify a potential leak area; and matching the potential leak area with a prior calculated leak area to identify the source location of the emission leak.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the method further comprises:
solving a simplified gas dispersion model to obtain an initial estimate of the rate of the emission leak; and using the initial estimate with the gas dispersion model to quantify a value of the actual leak rate.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the method further comprises:
using a simplifying assumption for a wind stability condition to compute a base value of σz, σy for any given distance from the leak source, namely σz b , σy b ; and calculating a continuous model parameter k to determine the actual values of σz, σy that provides the best fit of the model to the observed sensor readings, using
σ y=k*σy b

σ z=k*σz b

7 . A system for locating and quantifying fugitive emission leaks, the system including:
a plurality of gas sensors and at least one weather station located proximate an area of interest in a manufacturing plant; a data server operating a data processing program communicatively coupled to each of the plurality of gas sensors and to the at least one weather station, the data server receiving gas sensor data from each of the plurality of gas sensors and wind direction data from the at least one weather station; the data processing program operating to: validate the gas sensor data and the wind direction data to remove erroneous values and store the validated gas sensor data and wind direction data in a historian communicatively coupled to the data server; fetch from the historian the validated gas sensor data and wind direction data to merge the gas sensor data with the wind direction data to provide time synchronized gas sensor data and wind direction data over a given time interval; and segment the time synchronized gas sensor data and wind direction data for each location of the plurality of gas sensors into wind direction bins containing a gas level in each bin.

8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the data processing program further operates to:
divide the area of interest into a grid of cells and project on a display monitor the bins on the grid cells for each gas sensor location along with a representation of the concentration of the level of gas contained in the bins.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the data processing program further operates to:
group the grid cells on the display monitor into one or more contiguous grid cells having gas levels above a predefined level.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the data processing program further operates to:
calculate a boundary area containing the grid cells with a gas level above a threshold and project the boundary area on the display monitor to identify a potential leak area; and fetch a prior calculated leak area from the historian to match the potential leak area with the prior calculated leak area to identify the source location of the emission leak.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the data processing system further operates using a simplifying assumption for a wind stability condition to:
compute a base value of σz, σy for any given distance from the leak source, namely σz b , σy b ; and calculate a continuous model parameter k to determine the actual values of σz, σy that provides the best fit of the model to the observed sensor readings, using
σ y=k*σy b

σ z=k*σz b

12 . A non-transitory computer readable medium containing instructions that when executed by a data processing device, causes the data processing device to locate and quantify fugitive emission leaks by:
obtaining gas sensor data from a plurality of gas sensors and wind direction data from at least one weather station, the plurality of sensors and the at least one weather station located proximate a given area of interest; validating the gas sensor data and the wind direction data to remove erroneous values; merging the gas sensor data with the wind direction data to provide time synchronized gas sensor data and wind direction data over a given time interval; and segmenting the time synchronized gas sensor data and wind direction data for each location of the plurality of gas sensors into wind direction bins containing a concentration of gas levels contained in each bin.

13 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the instructions when executed by the processing device, further cause the processing device to:
divide the area of interest into a grid of cells and project the bins on the grid cells for each gas sensor location along with the level of gas contained in the bins.

14 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the instructions when executed by the processing device, further cause the processing device to:
group the grid cells into one or more contiguous grid cells having gas levels above a predefined level;

15 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions when executed by the processing device, further cause the processing device to:
calculate a boundary area containing the grid cells with a gas level above a threshold to identify a potential leak area; and match the potential leak area with a prior calculated leak area to identify the source location of the emission leak.

16 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions when executed by the processing device, further cause the processing device to:
solve a simplified gas dispersion model to obtain an initial estimate of the rate of the emission leak; and using the initial estimate with the gas dispersion model to quantify a value of the actual leak rate.

17 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the instructions when executed by the processing device, further cause the processing device to:
use a simplifying assumption for a wind stability condition to compute a base value of σz, σy for any given distance from the leak source, namely σz b , σy b ; and calculate a continuous model parameter k to determine the actual values of σz, σy tha

Assignees

• Honeywell Int Inc

Inventors

• Trenchard Andrew J
• Scoggins Sean
• Kastelein Bas

Classifications

• G01M3/16 Primary

  using electric detection means ({G01M3/045,} G01M3/06, G01M3/12, G01M3/20, G01M3/24, G01M3/26 take precedence) · CPC title

• G01M3/20 Primary

  using special tracer materials, e.g. dye, fluorescent material, radioactive material · CPC title

• G01M3/04 Primary

  by detecting the presence of fluid at the leakage point · CPC title

• G01N33/0062

  concerning the measuring method or the display, e.g. intermittent measurement or digital display · CPC title

• G01N33/0063

  using a threshold to release an alarm or displaying means · CPC title