Calibration of a fugitive emission rate measurement of an area source

Abstract

A major challenge to measuring fugitive emission rates from large area sources, such as landfills or tailings ponds, has been the establishment of the accuracy of such methods, or of a particular measurement. When such measurements are carried out, they are invariably associated with a relatively high degree of uncertainty. The Airborne Matter Mapping (AMM) method is a new method of measuring fugitive emission rates that can be applied to large area sources. The method was applied to the measurement of methane emissions from a landfill to assess the potential accuracy of the method, and the measurement process was calibrated to increase confidence in the measured value. First, a measured rate of methane from a gas cylinder was released from near the center of the landfill and the AMM method was applied to measure the methane flow rate across a measurement surface. Then, the AMM method was performed a second time along the same measurement surface without the intentional release of methane. The difference of the flow rates across the measurement surface were then compared with the measured rate of methane released from the gas cylinder. The relatively small difference of –5.7% between the flow rates, relative to the methane release rate from the gas cylinder, provides confidence in the accuracy of this AMM method measurement. An adjustment to the AMM method analysis was made such that the difference between the flow rates was negligible, which resulted in a calibrated measurement of the methane emission rate from the landfill of 0.87 g/sec. Implications: To properly manage fugitive emissions to the atmosphere, accurate measurement of fugitive emission rates is necessary. The Airborne Matter Mapping (AMM) method has the potential to provide accurate measurements of fugitive emission rates from large area sources, such as landfills, tailings ponds, and mines. The measurements can be calibrated against the metered release of a standard. This calibration can provide confidence in the accuracy of an AMM method measurement of the fugitive emission rate from a source.