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dc.rights.licenseCC-BY-NC-ND
dc.contributor.advisorRoeckmann, T.
dc.contributor.authorTettenborn, Judith
dc.date.accessioned2024-05-02T00:03:09Z
dc.date.available2024-05-02T00:03:09Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.identifier.urihttps://studenttheses.uu.nl/handle/20.500.12932/46347
dc.description.abstractEfficient and cost-effective mitigation of methane emissions from local gas distribution systems requires full characterization of leaks across an urban region. Mobile real-time measurements of ambient CH4 provide a fast and effective approach to identify and quantify methane leaks. The objective of such methodologies is to relate emission rates to parameters obtained during mobile measurements. These parameters encompass the maximum methane enhancement detected while crossing a methane plume and the integrated area of the associated peak. The maximum enhancement is currently used for emission quantification in mobile measurements, but was suggested to exhibit inconsistency among various measurement devices. Based on controlled release experiments conducted in four cities (London, Toronto, Rotterdam, and Utrecht), emission estimation methodologies were evaluated. Integrated plume area was found to be a more robust metric across different methane gas analyzer devices than the maximum methane enhancement. A statistical function based on integrated plume area is proposed for more consistent emission estimations when using different instruments. Nevertheless, large temporal variations in CH4 concentration enhancements were observed for the same release rate in line with previous experiments. Evaluation of repeated measurements to address this uncertainty and enable differentiation among various leak sizes was included. This study recommends a minimum of three repeated measurements and an optimal range of 5-7 plume transects for effective emission quantification to prioritize repair actions.
dc.description.sponsorshipUtrecht University
dc.language.isoEN
dc.subjectMitigation of CH4 emissions from local urban gas distribution systems requires characterization of leaks. This can be done utilizing mobile real-time measurements of ambient CH4, whereby emission rates are related to parameters obtained while crossing a CH4 plume. Based on controlled release experiments integrated plume area was found to be a more robust metric across different CH4 gas analyzer devices than max. enhancement and a statistical transfer function to infer leak rates was proposed.
dc.titleImproving Consistency in Methane Emission Quantification from the Natural Gas Distribution System across Measurement Devices
dc.type.contentMaster Thesis
dc.rights.accessrightsOpen Access
dc.subject.keywordsMethane, Climate Change Mitigation, GHG, Natural Gas
dc.subject.courseuuClimate Physics
dc.thesis.id27510


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