Assessing Bovine Methane Emissions: Respiratory Simulation and Optical Gas Imaging Methods

Bovine methane emissions contribute significantly to global greenhouse gas levels. Quantifying these emissions is of key importance in mitigating their production. This work investigates the physical simulation of cattle breaths and the assessment of their methane content through the use of optical...

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Main Author: Huang, Zhong Qian
Other Authors: Hunter, Ian W.
Format: Thesis
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2023
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/152877
https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2571-2277
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author Huang, Zhong Qian
author2 Hunter, Ian W.
author_facet Hunter, Ian W.
Huang, Zhong Qian
author_sort Huang, Zhong Qian
collection MIT
description Bovine methane emissions contribute significantly to global greenhouse gas levels. Quantifying these emissions is of key importance in mitigating their production. This work investigates the physical simulation of cattle breaths and the assessment of their methane content through the use of optical gas imaging (OGI). A physical respiratory simulator was designed and built to replicate cow exhalations in controlled laboratory settings, successfully emulating breath flow, tidal volume, respiration rate, temperature, and methane concentration. The simulator was used in infrared imaging experiments that demonstrated the feasibility of using OGI as a technique for measuring breath methane content. To visualize breath gas plumes, image processing methods were developed, encompassing background subtraction, frame differencing, and optical flow. These methods enabled the characterization of plume intensity and movement dynamics under varying concentrations and temperatures. Quantification techniques were developed to compute a measure of breath methane content from thermal video footage. Detected methane intensity exhibited a positive linear correlation with breath methane concentration within the range of 1000 - 4000 ppm. The influence of breath exit temperature on detected methane intensity was found to be minimal, with intensity primarily scaling with the difference between ambient air temperature and background temperature. These observed trends were found to be in alignment with those predicted by theoretical models.
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spelling mit-1721.1/1528772023-11-03T03:51:41Z Assessing Bovine Methane Emissions: Respiratory Simulation and Optical Gas Imaging Methods Huang, Zhong Qian Hunter, Ian W. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering Bovine methane emissions contribute significantly to global greenhouse gas levels. Quantifying these emissions is of key importance in mitigating their production. This work investigates the physical simulation of cattle breaths and the assessment of their methane content through the use of optical gas imaging (OGI). A physical respiratory simulator was designed and built to replicate cow exhalations in controlled laboratory settings, successfully emulating breath flow, tidal volume, respiration rate, temperature, and methane concentration. The simulator was used in infrared imaging experiments that demonstrated the feasibility of using OGI as a technique for measuring breath methane content. To visualize breath gas plumes, image processing methods were developed, encompassing background subtraction, frame differencing, and optical flow. These methods enabled the characterization of plume intensity and movement dynamics under varying concentrations and temperatures. Quantification techniques were developed to compute a measure of breath methane content from thermal video footage. Detected methane intensity exhibited a positive linear correlation with breath methane concentration within the range of 1000 - 4000 ppm. The influence of breath exit temperature on detected methane intensity was found to be minimal, with intensity primarily scaling with the difference between ambient air temperature and background temperature. These observed trends were found to be in alignment with those predicted by theoretical models. S.M. 2023-11-02T20:24:09Z 2023-11-02T20:24:09Z 2023-09 2023-09-28T15:49:59.823Z Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/152877 https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2571-2277 In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted Copyright retained by author(s) https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/ application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Huang, Zhong Qian
Assessing Bovine Methane Emissions: Respiratory Simulation and Optical Gas Imaging Methods
title Assessing Bovine Methane Emissions: Respiratory Simulation and Optical Gas Imaging Methods
title_full Assessing Bovine Methane Emissions: Respiratory Simulation and Optical Gas Imaging Methods
title_fullStr Assessing Bovine Methane Emissions: Respiratory Simulation and Optical Gas Imaging Methods
title_full_unstemmed Assessing Bovine Methane Emissions: Respiratory Simulation and Optical Gas Imaging Methods
title_short Assessing Bovine Methane Emissions: Respiratory Simulation and Optical Gas Imaging Methods
title_sort assessing bovine methane emissions respiratory simulation and optical gas imaging methods
url https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/152877
https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2571-2277
work_keys_str_mv AT huangzhongqian assessingbovinemethaneemissionsrespiratorysimulationandopticalgasimagingmethods