Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Developing a Standardized Procedure for the Remote Sensing of Methane Emissions from Shale Gas Well Sites

Akers, Chester
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3171-5909
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1665690748075609

Abstract Details

2022, Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, Chemical Engineering (Engineering and Technology).
Methane, the second largest greenhouse gas, is often released as a fugitive emission from natural gas drilling sites commonly located in rural, sparsely populated areas. At this level satellites lack the necessary spatial resolution to identify methane emissions, and site by site ground-based monitoring is economically unsustainable. To reconcile these issues, implementing aerial remote sensing platforms have recently been investigated. In this study a low altitude aircraft retrofitted with a shortwave infrared (SWIR), non-imaging spectrometer was used to locate methane leaks and estimate methane concentrations from active natural gas producing regions and natural gas infrastructures in Eastern Ohio. Three separate monitoring flights were completed on July 3rd, 2018, October 18th, 2018 and May 8th, 2019. Pairing flight data with MODTRAN6 radiative modeling, multiple concentration heat maps displaying flight path and estimated methane concentration were constructed. From these maps there was shown to be elevated methane concentrations in multiple regions: Proctor and Wheeling, West Virginia, Piedmont Lake, Ohio and an area of Eastern Ohio densely populated with actively producing horizontally drilled natural gas wells. There was also shown to be elevated methane concentrations at several specific locations: the Athens-Hocking Reclamation Center, a natural gas compressor station, a natural gas processing facility, and a surface mining site.
Kevin Crist (Advisor)
Geoffrey Dabelko (Committee Member)
Douglas Goetz (Committee Member)
Valerie Young (Committee Member)
102 p.
Atmosphere; Atmospheric Sciences; Chemical Engineering; Remote Sensing
Remote sensing; spectroscopy; modeling; radiative transfer modeling; MODTRAN; greenhouse gas; methane; methane emissions; shale gas; hydraulic fracturing; greenhouse gas emissions

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Akers, C. (2022). Developing a Standardized Procedure for the Remote Sensing of Methane Emissions from Shale Gas Well Sites [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1665690748075609

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Akers, Chester. Developing a Standardized Procedure for the Remote Sensing of Methane Emissions from Shale Gas Well Sites. 2022. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1665690748075609.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Akers, Chester. "Developing a Standardized Procedure for the Remote Sensing of Methane Emissions from Shale Gas Well Sites." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1665690748075609

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1665690748075609
144
© 2022, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.