Journal article
Emission quantification using the tracer gas dispersion method: The influence of instrument, tracer gas species and source simulation
Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark1
Air, Land & Water Resources, Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark2
Residual Resource Engineering, Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark3
Fluxsense AB4
The tracer gas dispersion method (TDM) is a remote sensing method used for quantifying fugitive emissions by relying on the controlled release of a tracer gas at the source, combined with concentration measurements of the tracer and target gas plumes. The TDM was tested at a wastewater treatment plant for plant-integrated methane emission quantification, using four analytical instruments simultaneously and four different tracer gases.
Measurements performed using a combination of an analytical instrument and a tracer gas, with a high ratio between the tracer gas release rate and instrument precision (a high release-precision ratio), resulted in well-defined plumes with a high signal-to-noise ratio and a high methane-to-tracer gas correlation factor.
Measured methane emission rates differed by up to 18% from the mean value when measurements were performed using seven different instrument and tracer gas combinations. Analytical instruments with a high detection frequency and good precision were established as the most suitable for successful TDM application.
The application of an instrument with a poor precision could only to some extent be overcome by applying a higher tracer gas release rate. A sideward misplacement of the tracer gas release point of about 250 m resulted in an emission rate comparable to those obtained using a tracer gas correctly simulating the methane emission.
Conversely, an upwind misplacement of about 150 m resulted in an emission rate overestimation of almost 50%, showing the importance of proper emission source simulation when applying the TDM.
Language: | English |
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Year: | 2018 |
Pages: | 59-66 |
ISSN: | 18791026 and 00489697 |
Types: | Journal article |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.289 |
ORCIDs: | Delre, Antonio , Mønster, Jacob , Fredenslund, Anders Michael and Scheutz, Charlotte |