Swept-ECQCL Multi-Chemical Sensor for Real-Time Methane Flare Combustion Monitoring

The oil and gas industry is a large source of greenhouse gas emissions, especially methane, which has a global warming potential about 36 times greater than CO2 over 100 years. A significant portion of methane emissions is associated with flaring, used to safely to burn unwanted hydrocarbons in fuel or waste products before release to the atmosphere; however, non-optimal flare operating conditions can lead to higher methane releases. The core of the proposed solution is advanced instrumentation for diagnosing flare operation remotely and in real time by measuring multiple chemicals simultaneously. The diagnostic capabilities are supplemented by advanced modeling and analysis to provide physical insight into fundamental processes driving flare efficiency and support the development of viable mitigation strategies, by adaptively adjusting controllable inputs based on measured flare compositions. In Phase I, a prototype gas flare measurement system will be constructed and used for testing on laboratory gas flares. Computational modeling of gas flares will be used to predict dependence of chemical species on flare operating conditions and allow interpretation of experimental results. The swept-ECQCL gas flare monitoring technology is intended for on-site measurements at flare sites, and is portable for transport between multiple locations. The sensor technology can also be applied to address many existing and future applications in laboratory or in-field sensing. Potential applications include detection of toxic chemicals for worker safety and health, monitoring of industrial processes for improved control and yield, monitoring of chemical releases into the environment, detection of chemicals relevant to agriculture, and improved medical diagnostics via detection of chemicals in exhaled breath.