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Super-emitters in natural gas infrastructure are caused by abnormal process conditions
Effectively mitigating methane emissions from the natural gas supply chain requires addressing the disproportionate influence of high-emitting sources. Here we use a Monte Carlo simulation to aggregate methane emissions from all components on natural gas production sites in the Barnett Shale product...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Nature Publishing Group
2017
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5241676/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28091528 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14012 |
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author | Zavala-Araiza, Daniel Alvarez, Ramón A Lyon, David R. Allen, David T. Marchese, Anthony J. Zimmerle, Daniel J. Hamburg, Steven P. |
author_facet | Zavala-Araiza, Daniel Alvarez, Ramón A Lyon, David R. Allen, David T. Marchese, Anthony J. Zimmerle, Daniel J. Hamburg, Steven P. |
author_sort | Zavala-Araiza, Daniel |
collection | PubMed |
description | Effectively mitigating methane emissions from the natural gas supply chain requires addressing the disproportionate influence of high-emitting sources. Here we use a Monte Carlo simulation to aggregate methane emissions from all components on natural gas production sites in the Barnett Shale production region (Texas). Our total emission estimates are two-thirds of those derived from independent site-based measurements. Although some high-emitting operations occur by design (condensate flashing and liquid unloadings), they occur more than an order of magnitude less frequently than required to explain the reported frequency at which high site-based emissions are observed. We conclude that the occurrence of abnormal process conditions (for example, malfunctions upstream of the point of emissions; equipment issues) cause additional emissions that explain the gap between component-based and site-based emissions. Such abnormal conditions can cause a substantial proportion of a site's gas production to be emitted to the atmosphere and are the defining attribute of super-emitting sites. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5241676 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2017 |
publisher | Nature Publishing Group |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-52416762017-02-02 Super-emitters in natural gas infrastructure are caused by abnormal process conditions Zavala-Araiza, Daniel Alvarez, Ramón A Lyon, David R. Allen, David T. Marchese, Anthony J. Zimmerle, Daniel J. Hamburg, Steven P. Nat Commun Article Effectively mitigating methane emissions from the natural gas supply chain requires addressing the disproportionate influence of high-emitting sources. Here we use a Monte Carlo simulation to aggregate methane emissions from all components on natural gas production sites in the Barnett Shale production region (Texas). Our total emission estimates are two-thirds of those derived from independent site-based measurements. Although some high-emitting operations occur by design (condensate flashing and liquid unloadings), they occur more than an order of magnitude less frequently than required to explain the reported frequency at which high site-based emissions are observed. We conclude that the occurrence of abnormal process conditions (for example, malfunctions upstream of the point of emissions; equipment issues) cause additional emissions that explain the gap between component-based and site-based emissions. Such abnormal conditions can cause a substantial proportion of a site's gas production to be emitted to the atmosphere and are the defining attribute of super-emitting sites. Nature Publishing Group 2017-01-16 /pmc/articles/PMC5241676/ /pubmed/28091528 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14012 Text en Copyright © 2017, The Author(s) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
spellingShingle | Article Zavala-Araiza, Daniel Alvarez, Ramón A Lyon, David R. Allen, David T. Marchese, Anthony J. Zimmerle, Daniel J. Hamburg, Steven P. Super-emitters in natural gas infrastructure are caused by abnormal process conditions |
title | Super-emitters in natural gas infrastructure are caused by abnormal process conditions |
title_full | Super-emitters in natural gas infrastructure are caused by abnormal process conditions |
title_fullStr | Super-emitters in natural gas infrastructure are caused by abnormal process conditions |
title_full_unstemmed | Super-emitters in natural gas infrastructure are caused by abnormal process conditions |
title_short | Super-emitters in natural gas infrastructure are caused by abnormal process conditions |
title_sort | super-emitters in natural gas infrastructure are caused by abnormal process conditions |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5241676/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28091528 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14012 |
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