Together with other research teams, we provided our expertise in methane emission management and specifically quantification as a partner of Utrecht University during the unique ROMEO project. Who was involved and what was the outcome?
How it all began
ROMEO (ROmanian Methane Emissions from Oil & gas) is a measurement campaign that was initiated by the European H2020 project called MEMO2 and received funding from the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) Oil and Gas Methane Science Studies.
Romania currently reports methane emissions but they are based on estimations. These figures are derived from non-country specific Tier 1 emission factors. As a result, there was a need to check the accuracy of these reported emission figures. Instead of relying on estimations, it was time to start with identifying and quantifying methane emissions using different techniques.
70 people from 20 nations were involved in this project. The 12 research teams were split up in 3 types: an airplane team using 2 aircrafts conducting facility-level quantification raster flights, a city team driving cars to measure methane in Bucharest and a ground team using drones and specialized measuring equipment.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Roeckmann
Specialist in Marine and Atmospheric Research and Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry
Utrecht University
The setup
Bas Hermans, Emission Division Operations Director of The Sniffers explains that “we mostly used the Remote Methane Laser Detector (RMLD) for scanning non accessible sources fast on low pressure lines. The Optical Gas Imaging camera was used to screen inaccessible sources or to screen at heights. Whenever we had access to sources and the conditions allowed it, we would quantify the leak using the High Flow Sampler combined with the Toxic Vapour Analyzer.”
Special thanks to Utrecht University for the partnership during this unique project and for collaborating with us on this case study. Our operators were thrilled to see so many different methods to identify methane emissions and to see how involved everyone was.
Curious about the full story?
What are the results after screening and High Flow Sampling and using so many different techniques to identify methane emissions? Can we confirm that Romania´s current reported methane emission figures are accurate? Simply download the case study and find out more.
