Quantification of methane gas leakages using remote sensing and sensor data fusion

The detection and localization of gas leaks is not only a task in industrial environments like raffineries. It is also important in biogas plants to ensure an efficient and safe operation. Besides the detection of leaks it is important to quantify the emissions. The quantification of the emissions is necessary to estimate the economic loss and the effect of the effluent gases on the atmosphere. The main compound of biogas is methane which can create an explosive mixture with air. Another compound of biogas is the toxic hydrogen sulfide. In order to avoid risks created by these compounds a remote quantification of the emissions from gas leaks is needed. In this paper a new approach to estimate the standard methane volume flow by using optical sensors is presented. A thermal camera for gas visualization and a sensor based on tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) are the main sensors of the developed measurement system. By using the ambient pressure and temperature and the distance to the gas plume, a physical model allows the estimation of the standard methane volume flow rate.