Methods for measuring fugitive emission rates
OwnerColin Irvin Wonginventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of determining a flow rate of airborne matter of a plume from an emission source through a notional surface. The method comprises obtaining a plurality of mass ratio measurements along a sampling surface and determining a mass flow rate of the airborne matter of the plume through at least a portion of the notional surface based at least in part on the plurality of mass ratio measurements, wherein the sampling surface and the notional surface are non-parallel.
Claims20
A method of determining a flow rate of airborne matter of a plume from an emission source through a notional surface, the method comprising:
- obtaining a plurality of mass ratio measurements along a sampling surface;
- and
- determining a mass flow rate of the airborne matter of the plume through at least a portion of the notional surface based at least in part on the plurality of mass ratio measurements and a wind factor;
- wherein the wind factor comprises the product of a wind speed and a scaling factor;
- wherein the scaling factor is representative of a ratio of an amount of the airborne matter in the notional surface to an amount of the airborne matter in the sampling surface;
- wherein the sampling surface and the notional surface are non-parallel.
A method of determining a flow rate of airborne matter of a plume from an emission source through a notional surface, the method comprising:
- obtaining a plurality of mass ratio measurements along a sampling surface;
- integrating the mass ratio measurements across the sampling surface to obtain a mass per unit length value of the airborne matter;
- and
- determining a mass flow rate of the airborne matter of the plume through at least a portion of the notional surface based at least in part on a product of the mass per unit length value and a wind factor;
- wherein the sampling surface and the notional surface are non-parallel;
- wherein the wind factor comprises the product of a wind speed and a scaling factor;
- and
- wherein the wind speed is representative of a wind speed at the notional surface between an altitude of the sampling surface and an altitude of an intersection of an upwind edge of the plume with the notional surface.
A method of determining a flow rate of airborne matter of a plume from an emission source through a notional surface, the method comprising:
- obtaining a plurality of mass ratio measurements along a sampling surface;
- integrating the mass ratio measurements across the sampling surface to obtain a mass per unit length value of the airborne matter;
- and
- determining a mass flow rate of the airborne matter of the plume through at least a portion of the notional surface based at least in part on a product of the mass per unit length value and a wind factor;
- wherein the sampling surface and the notional surface are non-parallel;
- wherein the wind factor comprises the product of a wind speed and a scaling factor;
- and
- wherein the wind speed is representative of a wind speed at the notional surface between an altitude of the sampling surface and an altitude of an intersection of a downwind edge of the plume with the notional surface.
A method of obtaining a flow rate, through a notional surface, of airborne matter originating from an emission source of interest, for a portion of a plume above a sampling surface that is located above ground level, comprising:
- measuring the airborne matter at two or more identified locations in a substantially horizontal sampling surface using an instrument that measures airborne matter (IMAM), obtaining two or more concentration or integrated concentration measurements, a geographic position and altitude value for each of the two or more identified locations, mapping the concentration or integrated concentration measurements relative to the geographic position and altitude values for each of the two or more identified locations in the sampling surface to obtain an airborne matter concentration or integrated concentration distribution map in the sampling surface, and integrating the airborne matter concentrations or integrated concentrations distribution map across the sampling surface to obtain a mass per unit length value of the airborne matter in the sampling surface;
- and
- obtaining an airborne matter flow rate in mass per unit time for the portion of the plume above the sampling surface based at least in part on the mass per unit length value of the airborne matter in the sampling surface multiplied by a wind factor;
- wherein the wind factor comprises the product of a wind speed and a scaling factor;
- and
- wherein the wind speed is representative of a wind speed at the notional surface between an altitude of the sampling surface and an altitude of an intersection of an upwind edge of the plume with the notional surface.
A method of determining a flow rate of airborne matter of a plume from an emission source through a notional surface, the method comprising:
- obtaining a plurality of mass ratio measurements along a sampling surface;
- and
- determining a mass flow rate of the airborne matter of the plume through at least a portion of the notional surface based at least in part on the plurality of mass ratio measurements;
- wherein the sampling surface extends at an angle greater than 45° and less than or equal to 90° relative to the notional surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.