Systems and methods for locating sources of fugitive gas emissions
AssigneeABB Schweiz AG
InventorsJ. Brian Leen, Yi-wen Huang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fugitive gas detection system includes an inertial measurement assembly that measures a change in position of the inlet of a gas analyzer and applies a time slip to concentration data detected by an analyzer to generate a time series of the concentration of the gas in three-dimensional space. Applying statistical methods, the relative location of the source of the fugitive gas can be established from the time series. Additionally, in some embodiments, the data may be interpolated to establish a map of a plume of the fugitive gas.
Claims20
A gas leak detector, comprising:
- an inertial measurement assembly;
- a gas analyzer;
- a wand having an inlet that receives ambient air and directs at least a portion of the ambient air to the gas analyzer;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- generate a first time series of locations of the inlet of the wand utilizing the inertial measurement assembly;
- generate a second time series of concentrations of a fugitive gas in the ambient air utilizing the gas analyzer;
- adjust the second time series based on a delay in a transfer of the fugitive gas from the inlet of the wand to the gas analyzer;
- and
- generate a third time series of the locations of the inlet of the wand and the concentrations of the fugitive gas at the inlet of the wand based on the first time series and the adjusted second time series.
A method of detecting gas leaks, the method comprising:
- moving a wand of a gas leak detector, wherein the wand has an inlet that receives ambient air and directs at least a portion of the ambient air to a gas analyzer of the gas leak detector;
- generating a first time series of locations of the inlet of the wand utilizing an inertial measurement assembly of the gas analyzer;
- generating a second time series of concentrations of a fugitive gas in the ambient air utilizing the gas analyzer;
- adjusting the second time series based on a delay in a transfer of the fugitive gas from the inlet of the wand to the gas analyzer;
- and
- generating a third time series of the locations of the inlet of the wand and the concentrations of the fugitive gas at the inlet of the wand based on the first time series and the adjusted second time series.
A gas leak detector, comprising:
- an inertial measurement assembly;
- a gas analyzer;
- a wand having an inlet that receives ambient air and directs at least a portion of the ambient air to the gas analyzer;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- identify, based on the inertial measurement assembly, real-time changes in a location of the inlet of the wand;
- identify, based on the gas analyzer, real-time changes in measured concentrations of a fugitive gas in the ambient air at the inlet of the wand;
- and
- correlate the real-time changes in the location of the inlet of the wand with the real-time changes in the measured concentrations of the fugitive gas at the inlet of the wand.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.