Quantifying Plumes in High, Variable Methane Background

At QLM, we are the ”plume whisperers!” In this installment of Plume of the Week, we ask, “What IS a gas plume anyway?” Well, it’s a 3-D region of enhanced gas concentration (relative to the local background). Sometimes the “background” is just the ~2ppm ambient CH4 concentration, but often in O&G production areas like the Permian, the background is WAY higher than that, so some emission sources can easily be masked by high (and dynamically varying) background originating from other, nearby (or even distant) sources. High & variable background often makes it almost impossible to detect – much less locate – emission sources that are buried in the variable background noise. This leads to BOTH false positives and false negatives, and incorrect facility-level emissions measurements. But when you can VISUALIZE and MEASURE the plume and background independently, the background can be removed, revealing the local enhancement so proper quantification and source attribution / localization can be done.