1174519 - Quantification of VOC Emissions Using Optical Gas Imaging Technology

Optical Gas Imaging (OGI) technology has proven to be a handy tool for detecting and visualizing small gas leaks and more substantial fugitive emissions in petroleum refineries, other Oil & Gas facilities. OGI technology is currently the preferred technology for detecting leaks and emissions of hydrocarbon compounds worldwide. US state and federal regulation frameworks are transitioning from conventional methods (sniffers), to visualizing and detecting leaks using OGI cameras for leak detection and repair (LDAR) applications. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) federal regulation, ‘Quad Oa’ (OOOOa) regulations, approved in 2016, states that this is the best technology for emission reduction (BSER). Recently, there is more demand for quantifying leaks and emission in terms of emission rate and maximum concentrations. This presentation describes in details the science and calibration procedures of Opgal's quantification optical gas imaging (QOGI) software, EyeCSite 2.0. Further, results of an inter-comparison European study, blindly evaluating three QOGI software packages, are presented. The results are discussed in terms of this technology advantages for specific applications (compared to other emission rate monitoring technologies), current limitations of usability, and future development challenges. The results of this study demonstrates the challenges of quantifying fugitive emissions in general (with any type of technology), and more specifically with QOGI recently developed software packages.