Application of new technology to measure pollutant emission rates from liquid storage tanks in the energy industry

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Atmospheric pressure storage tanks for liquid hydrocarbons are ubiquitous in all sectors of the energy industry and are identified as a critical source of fugitive volatile organic compound (VOC) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In the Canadian upstream oil and gas industry, it is estimated that more than 80,000 fixed roof hydrocarbon storage tanks are currently in use. Significant numbers of fixed roof storage tanks are also used in the downstream energy sector as well as in agricultural and municipal solid waste applications. There are currently no viable direct measurement approaches to quantify in-situ vapour emission rates from storage tanks, and emissions are instead estimated using crude models that are not sufficiently accurate for engineering design of mitigation solutions. Leveraging a newly developed tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) technology for optical quantification of emissions flux, the objective of this project is to directly quantify VOC and GHG emission rates of fixed roof hydrocarbon storage tanks typical of the Canadian upstream energy industry. Following both pilot- and full-scale field measurements, significant new quantitative tank emission rate data and models will be developed. This will address several key knowledge gaps in air quality and climate models and will have direct implications for industry operating practices and regulatory policy. Working with industrial partner Greatario Covers Inc., a central component of this project will be to quantify the emissions mitigation potential of a novel, self-assembling floating tile cover system for suppressing tank emissions. Successful deployment of this technology will have notable economic benefits for the industry partner and its fully Canadian-based manufacturing and operations chain, in addition to significant environmental benefits in Canada and globally.