Measurement of methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in Hillman State Park, Pennsylvania
Abandoned oil and gas wells, improperly plugged or unplugged, present a risk to current and future oil and gas development because they provide a potential pathway for unwanted gas and fluid migration to the surface. The appropriate emission factor for gaseous emissions from these wells is uncertain...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2018-03-01
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| Series: | Carbon Management |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2018.1443642 |
| _version_ | 1797678404745560064 |
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| author | Natalie J. Pekney J. Rodney Diehl David Ruehl James Sams Garret Veloski Adit Patel Charles Schmidt Thomas Card |
| author_facet | Natalie J. Pekney J. Rodney Diehl David Ruehl James Sams Garret Veloski Adit Patel Charles Schmidt Thomas Card |
| author_sort | Natalie J. Pekney |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abandoned oil and gas wells, improperly plugged or unplugged, present a risk to current and future oil and gas development because they provide a potential pathway for unwanted gas and fluid migration to the surface. The appropriate emission factor for gaseous emissions from these wells is uncertain, as a limited number of studies have reported abandoned wells as a methane emissions source. A helicopter-based survey that mapped methane concentration and located wells by detecting magnetic anomalies was conducted in Hillman State Park in southwestern Pennsylvania. Although well finding via aerial survey was successful, elevated methane concentrations due to emissions from wells in the survey area were not detected by helicopter as abandoned wells were likely too small a source of methane to detect from elevations that helicopters fly at (tens of meters). Measurement of methane emission rates from 31 wells were collected using several techniques that are compared and evaluated for their effectiveness: Hi Flow sampler, field-portable flame ionization detector, infrared camera, dynamic flux chamber and bag sampling. Nine of the 31 wells were buried; average methane flux for these wells was not statistically different from the background. Mass flow rate from the remaining 22 wells ranged from non-detection (less than 0.09 kg CH4/day) to 4.18 kg CH4/day with a mean of 0.70 kg/well/day (median of 0.24 kg CH4/day/well) and a sample standard of error of 0.21 kg CH4/well/day. This emission factor, while not intended for exclusive use in developing a methane emissions inventory for abandoned oil and gas wells, contributes to the growing amount of methane emissions data for this source category. The results from the aerial survey, ground-based well location verification and emissions measurements, and the evaluation of measurement approaches described here, provide a comprehensive characterization of abandoned wells in one field that can inform future measurement studies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T22:59:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-19b6a93c3adb460588244582734700b0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1758-3004 1758-3012 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T22:59:17Z |
| publishDate | 2018-03-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Carbon Management |
| spelling | doaj.art-19b6a93c3adb460588244582734700b02023-09-21T15:09:04ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCarbon Management1758-30041758-30122018-03-019216517510.1080/17583004.2018.14436421443642Measurement of methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in Hillman State Park, PennsylvaniaNatalie J. Pekney0J. Rodney Diehl1David Ruehl2James Sams3Garret Veloski4Adit Patel5Charles Schmidt6Thomas Card7National Energy Technology LaboratoryNational Energy Technology LaboratoryAECOMNational Energy Technology LaboratoryNational Energy Technology LaboratoryCollege of Global Sustainability, University of South FloridaCE SchmidtEnumclaw, Washington, USAAbandoned oil and gas wells, improperly plugged or unplugged, present a risk to current and future oil and gas development because they provide a potential pathway for unwanted gas and fluid migration to the surface. The appropriate emission factor for gaseous emissions from these wells is uncertain, as a limited number of studies have reported abandoned wells as a methane emissions source. A helicopter-based survey that mapped methane concentration and located wells by detecting magnetic anomalies was conducted in Hillman State Park in southwestern Pennsylvania. Although well finding via aerial survey was successful, elevated methane concentrations due to emissions from wells in the survey area were not detected by helicopter as abandoned wells were likely too small a source of methane to detect from elevations that helicopters fly at (tens of meters). Measurement of methane emission rates from 31 wells were collected using several techniques that are compared and evaluated for their effectiveness: Hi Flow sampler, field-portable flame ionization detector, infrared camera, dynamic flux chamber and bag sampling. Nine of the 31 wells were buried; average methane flux for these wells was not statistically different from the background. Mass flow rate from the remaining 22 wells ranged from non-detection (less than 0.09 kg CH4/day) to 4.18 kg CH4/day with a mean of 0.70 kg/well/day (median of 0.24 kg CH4/day/well) and a sample standard of error of 0.21 kg CH4/well/day. This emission factor, while not intended for exclusive use in developing a methane emissions inventory for abandoned oil and gas wells, contributes to the growing amount of methane emissions data for this source category. The results from the aerial survey, ground-based well location verification and emissions measurements, and the evaluation of measurement approaches described here, provide a comprehensive characterization of abandoned wells in one field that can inform future measurement studies.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2018.1443642air pollutant emissionsemission factorsmethodologiesleakage |
| spellingShingle | Natalie J. Pekney J. Rodney Diehl David Ruehl James Sams Garret Veloski Adit Patel Charles Schmidt Thomas Card Measurement of methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in Hillman State Park, Pennsylvania Carbon Management air pollutant emissions emission factors methodologies leakage |
| title | Measurement of methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in Hillman State Park, Pennsylvania |
| title_full | Measurement of methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in Hillman State Park, Pennsylvania |
| title_fullStr | Measurement of methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in Hillman State Park, Pennsylvania |
| title_full_unstemmed | Measurement of methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in Hillman State Park, Pennsylvania |
| title_short | Measurement of methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in Hillman State Park, Pennsylvania |
| title_sort | measurement of methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in hillman state park pennsylvania |
| topic | air pollutant emissions emission factors methodologies leakage |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2018.1443642 |
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