This week, Bozeman, Montana-based laser technology firm Bridger Photonics, which develops LiDar (light detection and ranging) technology to detect methane and gas leaks, announced a major breakthrough for LiDar adoption as a safety application in the oil and gas industry. Petroleum giant Exxon Mobil, through its subsidiary XTO Energy, has filed an application with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to use the company’s LiDAR-based technology for remote aerial detection of methane emissions and other regulatory compliance.
“This is a significant move by a leader in the oil and gas industry to open new and more efficient paths for responsible operations and sustainability,” read a statement from Bridger Photonics following the news.
Under current EPA regulations (specifically, federal regulatory code 40, Part 60, Subpart OOOa), oil and gas producers are required to inspect their equipment for leaks of methane volatile organic compounds and other pollutants. Per this regulation, field crews are required to visit U.S. production sites–of which there are hundreds of thousands nationwide–on foot, inspecting each piece of equipment by hand in search of leaks.
Pre-technology, the manual detection of leaks was the best available option, but remains costly, time-consuming, and potentially hazardous to field crews exposed to toxic leaks. Under current EPA-approved methods for leak detection using Optical Gas Imaging (OGI) and so-called Method 21, crews use handheld imaging instruments at close proximity to the potential leak, and may even fail to reliably detect some leaks because the cameras must detect subtle temperature difference between the gas and the background, which requires that the camera must be continuously recalibrated between views.
Under the 2016 Clean Air Act, AMELs–Alternate Means of Emissions Limitation, or applications to replace ground crew visits with technology–were introduced, in anticipation that technology would advance to provide better methods of limiting emissions, provided that the technology achieve equivalent methane emissions reduction to current regulations, on a site-by-site basis.
Win-win
Bridger Photonics has developed a LiDAR-based application, Gas Mapping LiDAR, that scans production sites from aircraft to detect and estimate methane emissions throughout the entire natural gas value chain (production, transmission, and distribution of natural gas). Bridger then hands its clients a map pinpointing the GPS coordinates, images and quantity estimate of every detectable emission in the client’s infrastructure.
These data products, Bridger says, provide actionable information for field crews to find and prioritize leaks more easily, which means that operators only need to deploy field crews when a leak is actually identified. Bridger says its Gas Mapping LiDAR sensors lead the industry in detecting over 90 percent of typical basin emissions. The time saving is also significant: manual, in-person inspections that have traditionally taken six months can now be conducted aerially in just days.
“This is a win-win for everyone involved: Bridger enables responsible operations while saving operators the cost and hazards of unnecessary visits to 60 percent to 90 percent of their sites,” said Dr. Pete Roos, CEO and co-founder of Bridger Photonics, as well as a PhD laser physicist and research scientist at Montana State University.
ExxonMobil’s bid to use Gas Mapping LiDAR is a major breakthrough for the technology in oil and gas applications. This is the first technology that has ever been included in an official filing for an with the EPA. ExxonMobil conducted extensive field tests of eight different emerging detection technologies (five aerial surveillance methods, one satellite surveillance method, one truck-mounted monitoring method, and one fixed position monitor) across over 1,000 sites in the U.S. states of New and Mexico before selecting Bridger Photonics for the EPA application.
“We look forward to the EPA process establishing this alternative as equally effective as existing regulatory requirements,” said Bart Cahir, Senior Vice President of Unconventional at ExxonMobil. “Our experience shows us the technology available today can detect leaks more efficiently than the manual processes federal regulations now require. ExxonMobil is deploying next-generation detection technologies under real-world operating conditions as part of our overall commitment to reduce methane emissions in our operations.”
An Exxon shout-out
Bridger also hopes that ExxonMobil’s public affirmation of the technology will lead to broader regulatory acceptance of LiDAR, as most U.S. state regulators look to the EPA for guidance in setting state regulatory standards. Bridger says it will actively seek regulatory approval from states for Gas Mapping LiDar, and says the Exxon Mobil/XTO AMEL filing is publicly available and may help streamline the process for other oil and gas operators looking to deploy similar technology.
Bridger Photonics developed Gas Mapping LiDAR with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy‘s advanced research arm, ARPA-E, which just this week announced a new $35 million funding round to develop technologies to reduce methane emissions in the oil, gas and coal industries. The company was recognized by R&D World Magazine as a “Top 100” research and development firm.
