Systems and methods for detecting changes in emission rates of gas leaks in ensembles
US10386258B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 2, 2016 |
| Grant date | Aug 20, 2019 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 28, 2037 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01M3/04
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
In some embodiments, computer-implemented systems/methods detect and/or quantify changes in emission rates of gas emission sources (e.g. natural gas leaks originating from underground distribution pipelines) using data from multiple vehicle-based measurement runs. Exemplary described methods aim to address the observation that large (e.g. 10×) changes in gas concentrations away from a source may be observed even in the absence of significant changes in source emission rate, due to changes in wind or other atmospheric conditions and local spatial variations in gas concentrations. Described methods are useful for identifying large increases in the emission rate(s) of known sources, for example due to frost heave or other dislocations. Multiple runs are performed along the same survey path in closely-related conditions (e.g. same time of day, same lanes), and a statistical test (e.g. a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test) is used to identify changes in concentration reflecting changes in emission rates.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.