Project Overview
Approved for funding in ERA’s Natural Gas Challenge in 2020, Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL) piloted an Alternative Fugitive Emissions Management Program (alt-FEMP) utilizing aerial screening technology coupled with ground-based detection. By completion in 2023, the project championed the commercial deployment of Bridger Photonics’ Gas Mapping LiDAR (a type of aerial-based methane detection) and the University of Calgary’s PoMELO (a vehicle-based methane detection technology) in Alberta.
Combining Aerial and Ground-Based Methane Detection Technologies
Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) is the process of finding the sources of fugitive emissions, comprised mostly of methane, and repairing them. The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) requires a Fugitive Emissions Management Program (FEMP) to conduct regular emission surveys at regulated facilities, but will consider innovative and science-based alternatives (called “alt-FEMP”) to find leaks faster, more efficiently and at a lower cost than currently approved technologies. This project included these two alternative alt-FEMP technology approaches.
CNRL conducted an alt-FEMP pilot to deploy Bridger Photonics Inc. (Bridger) Gas Mapping LiDAR (GML) technology via aerial remote sensing for methane detection, complemented by the University of Calgary’s Portable Methane Leak Observatory (PoMELO) ground vehicle-based methane detection technology, in addition to on-site investigation with optical gas imaging (OGI) cameras when more information was required. The pilot took place in three regions in Alberta, at one cold heavy oil production with sand (CHOPS) site, and two light/medium crude oil and natural gas production sites.
GML was deployed from fixed-wing aircraft to scan facilities from the air, and PoMELO was deployed on vehicles to scan facilities from the ground. Together, the technologies detected methane emissions, estimated each emission’s point source, and quantified the associated emission rates at three of CNRL’s conventional oil and gas sites. The project addressed fugitive emissions in the oil and gas industry and helped to improve costly and inefficient conventional LDAR methods.
Bridger Data Guides Ground-Based Follow-Ups
The pilot project conducted a combination of Bridger and PoMELO surveys, typically involving two flyovers and a ground follow-up if site-level emission rates over the threshold were detected. Combining Bridger data and associated emission point source information with reported vent volumes helped to identify emission anomalies and enabled prioritization of ground-based follow-ups. This ensured sites with the largest emissions could be investigated first. The project determined that Bridger GML data required additional ground-based surveys (PoMELO and/or OGI) to launch mitigation efforts, because of difficulties differentiating aerial data between routine venting, non-routine venting, and fugitive emissions. Although cost-efficiencies during the project were not realized as expected, the PoMELO technology could be used passively, mounted on vehicles driving business-as-usual, to address the associated survey follow-up cost. Overall, simulation modelling to evaluate alt-FEMP performance results and analysis show CNRL’s alt-FEMP initiative surpassed anticipated methane reduction targets.
What’s next?
Prior to the project, Bridger’s GML technology was commercially available, but had only been used in Alberta on small-scale pilot operations. The project’s commercial-scale field demonstration improved the reporting format and data delivery and contributed to the advancement of Bridger GML’s market adoption in the province. Bridger’s GML is now available for oil and gas producers to reduce emissions as an Alt-FEMP technology. It supplements the PoMELO, available through the University of Calgary, and continues to be used at CNRL sites. Post project, CNRL aims to identify opportunities for further methane reduction beyond the successful outcomes of the Alt-FEMP technologies evaluation cases.
This novel approach to couple aerial screening with ground-based detection helps to understand and quantify emissions anomalies and prioritize ground-based follow-ups. Using the two technologies in combination enables more effective detection and mitigation than would be possible individually and shows how impactful methane measurement and mitigation may require novel combinations of existing technologies.