| Fugitive emissions in the oil and gas industry are significant greenhouse gas contributors but their location is challenging. A proof-of-concept investigation was performed, combining wind and concentration data to determine source locations. Four simple trajectory statistical methods were investigated on an ideal test case from a CFD simulation of a simplified gas plant geometry: potential source contribution function (PSCF), concentration weighted trajectory (CWT), residence time weighted concentration (RTWC), and quantitative transport bias analysis (QTBA). Results were quantitatively compared using a correlation measure that took into account search area from the source(s). In the present application, PSCF, CWT and RTWC were all capable of distinguishing regions near major sources from the surroundings. QTBA was not. RTWC had the best source discrimination when provided sufficient domain trajectory coverage, but otherwise could produce false source regions, and should be used in conjunction with CWT and trajectory maps. |
