Deployable Electrochemical Methane Sensors for Pipeline Monitoring and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

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Methane is a potent greenhouse gas many times more damaging to the environment than CO2. Industrial sectors across Canada - especially in the natural resource arena - are high emitters of methane, resulting in increased mandates from both the public and private sectors to directly address the source of these emissions. Ironically, most methane emissions are due to leaks in existing pressure and piping systems, and not as a result of intentional direct environmental venting. As a manufacturer of engineered industrial products used in systems where methane emissions are present, Pro-Flange has a direct interest in developing a product that can detect such leaks in order to address and repair without significant contamination of the environment.The proposed collaboration between Pro-Flange and the University of Waterloo, aims to develop 'smart flanges' which have built-in, replaceable, inexpensive methane sensors which can detect any fugitive emissions or leaks occurring in and around the natural gas pipeline. In principle, these smart flanges will form a sensor network that emits a signal to inform the gas distributor of a leak and its location in the infrastructure. Since the gas distribution networks span huge areas across the country, it is not currently feasible for routine manual monitoring and so many leaks go undetected and unaccounted for. The proposed work will solve this problem and may lead to significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions for Canada and the world.