Dual frequency comb spectroscopy and atmospheric modeling for the detection of methane leaks at oil and gas production sites

摘要

We present the development of a dual frequency comb spectrometer (DCS) system with the potential to locate and size methane leaks from oil and gas production sites over extended periods of time. The DCS system has been optimized for broadband high-precision measurements of methane over kilometer scale open paths. These measurements are coupled with an atmospheric inversion which utilizes local meteorology and a high resolution fluid dynamics simulation in order to retrieve methane leak locations and leak rates. Initial demonstrations of the instrument and techniques will be presented. In the long term, the system will be deployed at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory (BAO) site, which is optimal for assessing the measurement and inversion methods under realistic conditions, e.g., highly variable background and high oil and gas production site density.