Facility level measurement of offshore oil and gas installations from a medium-sized airborne platform: method development for quantification and source identification of methane emissions

James L. France; Prudence Bateson; Pamela Dominutti; Grant Allen; Stephen Andrews; Stephane Bauguitte; Max Coleman; Tom Lachlan-Cope; Rebecca E. Fisher; Langwen Huang; Anna E. Jones; James Lee; David Lowry; Joseph Pitt; Ruth Purvis; John Pyle; Jacob Shaw; Nicola Warwick; Alexandra Weiss; Shona Wilde; Jonathan Witherstone; Stuart Young

doi:10.5194/amt-14-71-2021

Facility level measurement of offshore oil and gas installations from a medium-sized airborne platform: method development for quantification and source identification of methane emissions

James L. France^*, Prudence Bateson, Pamela Dominutti, Grant Allen, Stephen Andrews, Stephane Bauguitte, Max Coleman, Tom Lachlan-Cope, Rebecca E. Fisher, Langwen Huang, Anna E. Jones, James Lee, David Lowry, Joseph Pitt, Ruth Purvis, John Pyle, Jacob Shaw, Nicola Warwick, Alexandra Weiss, Shona WildeJonathan Witherstone, Stuart Young

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Emissions of methane (CH4) from offshore oil and gas installations are poorly ground-truthed, and quantification relies heavily on the use of emission factors and activity data. As part of the United Nations Climate & Clean Air Coalition (UN CCAC) objective to study and reduce short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), a Twin Otter aircraft was used to survey CH4 emissions from UK and Dutch offshore oil and gas installations. The aims of the surveys were to (i) identify installations that are significant CH4 emitters, (ii) separate installation emissions from other emissions using carbon-isotopic fingerprinting and other chemical proxies, (iii) estimate CH4 emission rates, and (iv) improve flux estimation (and sampling) methodologies for rapid quantification of major gas leaks. In this paper, we detail the instrument and aircraft set-up for two campaigns flown in the springs of 2018 and 2019 over the southern North Sea and describe the developments made in both the planning and sampling methodology to maximise the quality and value of the data collected. We present example data collected from both campaigns to demonstrate the challenges encountered during offshore surveys, focussing on the complex meteorology of the marine boundary layer and sampling discrete plumes from an airborne platform. The uncertainties of CH4 flux calculations from measurements under varying boundary layer conditions are considered, as well as recommendations for attribution of sources through either spot sampling for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) /δ 13CCH4 or using in situ instrumental data to determine C2H6-CH4 ratios. A series of recommendations for both planning and measurement techniques for future offshore work within marine boundary layers is provided.

Original language	English
Article number	amt-14-71-2021
Pages (from-to)	71-88
Number of pages	18
Journal	Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
Volume	14
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-71-2021
Publication status	Published - 5 Jan 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgements. This work was funded under the Climate & Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) Oil and Gas Methane Science Studies (MSS) programme, hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme. Funding was provided by the Environmental Defense Fund, Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, European Commission, and CCAC.

Funding Information:
This research has been supported by the Climate & Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) (grant no. DTIE18-EN018).

© Author(s) 2021.

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Facility level measurement of offshore oil and gas installations from a medium-sized airborne platform: method development for quantification and source identification of methane emissions
© Author(s) 2021
Final published version, 5.98 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

France, J. L., Bateson, P., Dominutti, P., Allen, G., Andrews, S., Bauguitte, S., Coleman, M., Lachlan-Cope, T., Fisher, R. E., Huang, L., Jones, A. E., Lee, J., Lowry, D., Pitt, J., Purvis, R., Pyle, J., Shaw, J., Warwick, N., Weiss, A., ... Young, S. (2021). Facility level measurement of offshore oil and gas installations from a medium-sized airborne platform: method development for quantification and source identification of methane emissions. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 14(1), 71-88. Article amt-14-71-2021. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-71-2021

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title = "Facility level measurement of offshore oil and gas installations from a medium-sized airborne platform: method development for quantification and source identification of methane emissions",

abstract = "Emissions of methane (CH4) from offshore oil and gas installations are poorly ground-truthed, and quantification relies heavily on the use of emission factors and activity data. As part of the United Nations Climate & Clean Air Coalition (UN CCAC) objective to study and reduce short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), a Twin Otter aircraft was used to survey CH4 emissions from UK and Dutch offshore oil and gas installations. The aims of the surveys were to (i) identify installations that are significant CH4 emitters, (ii) separate installation emissions from other emissions using carbon-isotopic fingerprinting and other chemical proxies, (iii) estimate CH4 emission rates, and (iv) improve flux estimation (and sampling) methodologies for rapid quantification of major gas leaks. In this paper, we detail the instrument and aircraft set-up for two campaigns flown in the springs of 2018 and 2019 over the southern North Sea and describe the developments made in both the planning and sampling methodology to maximise the quality and value of the data collected. We present example data collected from both campaigns to demonstrate the challenges encountered during offshore surveys, focussing on the complex meteorology of the marine boundary layer and sampling discrete plumes from an airborne platform. The uncertainties of CH4 flux calculations from measurements under varying boundary layer conditions are considered, as well as recommendations for attribution of sources through either spot sampling for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) /δ 13CCH4 or using in situ instrumental data to determine C2H6-CH4 ratios. A series of recommendations for both planning and measurement techniques for future offshore work within marine boundary layers is provided.",

author = "France, {James L.} and Prudence Bateson and Pamela Dominutti and Grant Allen and Stephen Andrews and Stephane Bauguitte and Max Coleman and Tom Lachlan-Cope and Fisher, {Rebecca E.} and Langwen Huang and Jones, {Anna E.} and James Lee and David Lowry and Joseph Pitt and Ruth Purvis and John Pyle and Jacob Shaw and Nicola Warwick and Alexandra Weiss and Shona Wilde and Jonathan Witherstone and Stuart Young",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgements. This work was funded under the Climate & Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) Oil and Gas Methane Science Studies (MSS) programme, hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme. Funding was provided by the Environmental Defense Fund, Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, European Commission, and CCAC. Funding Information: This research has been supported by the Climate & Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) (grant no. DTIE18-EN018). {\textcopyright} Author(s) 2021.",

year = "2021",

month = jan,

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doi = "10.5194/amt-14-71-2021",

language = "English",

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France, JL, Bateson, P, Dominutti, P, Allen, G, Andrews, S, Bauguitte, S, Coleman, M, Lachlan-Cope, T, Fisher, RE, Huang, L, Jones, AE, Lee, J, Lowry, D, Pitt, J, Purvis, R, Pyle, J, Shaw, J, Warwick, N, Weiss, A, Wilde, S, Witherstone, J & Young, S 2021, 'Facility level measurement of offshore oil and gas installations from a medium-sized airborne platform: method development for quantification and source identification of methane emissions', Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, vol. 14, no. 1, amt-14-71-2021, pp. 71-88. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-71-2021

Facility level measurement of offshore oil and gas installations from a medium-sized airborne platform: method development for quantification and source identification of methane emissions. / France, James L.; Bateson, Prudence; Dominutti, Pamela et al.
In: Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, Vol. 14, No. 1, amt-14-71-2021, 05.01.2021, p. 71-88.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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T2 - method development for quantification and source identification of methane emissions

AU - France, James L.

AU - Bateson, Prudence

AU - Dominutti, Pamela

AU - Allen, Grant

AU - Andrews, Stephen

AU - Bauguitte, Stephane

AU - Coleman, Max

AU - Lachlan-Cope, Tom

AU - Fisher, Rebecca E.

AU - Huang, Langwen

AU - Jones, Anna E.

AU - Lee, James

AU - Lowry, David

AU - Pitt, Joseph

AU - Purvis, Ruth

AU - Pyle, John

AU - Shaw, Jacob

AU - Warwick, Nicola

AU - Weiss, Alexandra

AU - Wilde, Shona

AU - Witherstone, Jonathan

AU - Young, Stuart

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgements. This work was funded under the Climate & Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) Oil and Gas Methane Science Studies (MSS) programme, hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme. Funding was provided by the Environmental Defense Fund, Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, European Commission, and CCAC. Funding Information: This research has been supported by the Climate & Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) (grant no. DTIE18-EN018). © Author(s) 2021.

PY - 2021/1/5

Y1 - 2021/1/5

N2 - Emissions of methane (CH4) from offshore oil and gas installations are poorly ground-truthed, and quantification relies heavily on the use of emission factors and activity data. As part of the United Nations Climate & Clean Air Coalition (UN CCAC) objective to study and reduce short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), a Twin Otter aircraft was used to survey CH4 emissions from UK and Dutch offshore oil and gas installations. The aims of the surveys were to (i) identify installations that are significant CH4 emitters, (ii) separate installation emissions from other emissions using carbon-isotopic fingerprinting and other chemical proxies, (iii) estimate CH4 emission rates, and (iv) improve flux estimation (and sampling) methodologies for rapid quantification of major gas leaks. In this paper, we detail the instrument and aircraft set-up for two campaigns flown in the springs of 2018 and 2019 over the southern North Sea and describe the developments made in both the planning and sampling methodology to maximise the quality and value of the data collected. We present example data collected from both campaigns to demonstrate the challenges encountered during offshore surveys, focussing on the complex meteorology of the marine boundary layer and sampling discrete plumes from an airborne platform. The uncertainties of CH4 flux calculations from measurements under varying boundary layer conditions are considered, as well as recommendations for attribution of sources through either spot sampling for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) /δ 13CCH4 or using in situ instrumental data to determine C2H6-CH4 ratios. A series of recommendations for both planning and measurement techniques for future offshore work within marine boundary layers is provided.

AB - Emissions of methane (CH4) from offshore oil and gas installations are poorly ground-truthed, and quantification relies heavily on the use of emission factors and activity data. As part of the United Nations Climate & Clean Air Coalition (UN CCAC) objective to study and reduce short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), a Twin Otter aircraft was used to survey CH4 emissions from UK and Dutch offshore oil and gas installations. The aims of the surveys were to (i) identify installations that are significant CH4 emitters, (ii) separate installation emissions from other emissions using carbon-isotopic fingerprinting and other chemical proxies, (iii) estimate CH4 emission rates, and (iv) improve flux estimation (and sampling) methodologies for rapid quantification of major gas leaks. In this paper, we detail the instrument and aircraft set-up for two campaigns flown in the springs of 2018 and 2019 over the southern North Sea and describe the developments made in both the planning and sampling methodology to maximise the quality and value of the data collected. We present example data collected from both campaigns to demonstrate the challenges encountered during offshore surveys, focussing on the complex meteorology of the marine boundary layer and sampling discrete plumes from an airborne platform. The uncertainties of CH4 flux calculations from measurements under varying boundary layer conditions are considered, as well as recommendations for attribution of sources through either spot sampling for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) /δ 13CCH4 or using in situ instrumental data to determine C2H6-CH4 ratios. A series of recommendations for both planning and measurement techniques for future offshore work within marine boundary layers is provided.

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ER -

Facility level measurement of offshore oil and gas installations from a medium-sized airborne platform: method development for quantification and source identification of methane emissions

Abstract

Bibliographical note

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