STTR Phase I: Development and Validation of Low-Cost Natural Gas Leak Detection Sensors and Analytics for Drone-Based and Handheld Deployments

该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是快速、经济高效地检测天然气泄漏，以改善公共安全、缓解全球气候变化并减少产品损失。天然气是美国最大的电力供应商。然而，仅在生产过程中，井垫和管道就发生了80Tg以上的泄漏。这种泄漏构成了公共卫生风险，自1997-2016年间报告了1300起重大事件，导致50人死亡，180人受伤，成本高达20亿美元。此外，甲烷是一种温室气体，其升温潜力是二氧化碳的84倍。2015年，天然气泄漏占1.98亿吨二氧化碳当量，对应的碳税价值超过20亿美元。最后，能源公司希望减少泄漏，以避免产品损失，80Tg甲烷的价值为120亿美元。该项目将通过提高天然气泄漏检测的效率和成本，直接影响上述领域。仅在美国就有超过220万英里的地方公用事业天然气分配管道120万个井垫，改进的天然气泄漏检测系统的商业前景非常光明，预计收入超过7000万美元。这个小企业技术转让(STTR)第一阶段项目将涉及开发一种综合的天然气泄漏检测解决方案，该解决方案将紧凑、低成本的传感器与最先进的分析相结合。该解决方案可用于基于无人机和手持设备的监测，将使能源供应商能够检测到井垫和管道的天然气泄漏。在第一阶段，将通过开发基于非相干、腔增强光谱的轻型气体传感器和基于过滤红外成像的天然气相机来证明技术可行性。这些传感器将与全球定位系统、风速/风向和数据分析平台集成。在对受控天然气泄漏进行现场测试之前，第一阶段解决方案将在实验室进行测试，以表征其分析性能。在第二阶段，传感器硬件、电子设备和固件将得到改进，以满足基于无人机和手持设备部署的严格的尺寸、重量、功率和环境限制。同样，分析平台将得到改进，以纳入STTR传感器，解释红外摄像机数据，并提供全面的泄漏检测报告。第二阶段的原型将在真实世界条件下与各种潜在客户进行现场测试，以进行井垫监测和管道分配系统监测。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is the rapid, cost-effective detection of natural gas leakage to improve public safety, mitigate global climate change, and decrease product loss. Natural gas is the largest provider of power in the United States. However, more than 80 Tg of leakage occurs at well pads and pipelines during production alone. Such leakage poses a public health risk, with 1300 significant incidents reported from 1997 ? 2016, resulting in 50 fatalities, 180 injuries, and $2B in costs. Additionally, methane is a greenhouse gas with a warming potential that is 84 times higher than CO2. In 2015, natural gas leakage accounted for 198 million tons of CO2 equivalents, corresponding to a carbon tax value of more than $2B. Finally, energy companies want to reduce leakage to avoid product loss, with 80 Tg of methane having a value of $12B. This project will directly impact the aforementioned areas by improving the efficiencies and costs associated with natural gas leak detection. With over 2.2 million miles of local utility gas distribution pipelines 1.2 million well pads in the U.S. alone, the commercial prospects for an improved natural gas leak detection system are very promising with expected revenues exceeding $70M.This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will involve the development of a comprehensive natural gas leakage detection solution that integrates compact, low-cost sensors with state-of-the-art analytics. The solution, which can be used in drone-based and handheld monitoring, will enable energy providers to detect natural gas leakage from well pads and pipelines. In Phase I, technical feasibility will be demonstrated by the development of a lightweight gas sensor based on incoherent, cavity-enhanced spectrometry and a natural gas camera based on filtered infrared imaging. These sensors will be integrated with global positioning system, wind speed/direction, and data analytics platform. The Phase I solution will be laboratory tested to characterize its analytical performance, before undergoing field testing on controlled natural gas leaks. In Phase II, the sensor hardware, electronics, and firmware will be refined to meet the stringent size, weight, power, and environmental constraints of drone-based and handheld deployment. Likewise, the analytics platform will be refined to incorporate the STTR sensors, interpret the infrared camera data, and provide comprehensive leak detection reports. The Phase II prototypes will be field tested under real-world conditions with a variety of potential customers for both well pad monitoring and pipeline distribution system monitoring.