Remote Detection of Emergency Emissions and Gas Leaks

There are many reasons for natural gas (methane) leaks in gas distribution networks. One of the most important tasks of gas distribution organizations is to promptly identify and eliminate gas leaks before they cause emergency situations. Eliminating gas leaks as soon as possible will minimize the negative impact on the environment. This paper proposes a new original method for detecting emergency gas emissions into the atmosphere and leaks on gas pipeline systems. The technique involves the simultaneous use of both experimental and calculated data to determine the concentration and characteristic sizes of gas emissions. The methodology is tested at laboratory conditions using a propane cylinder and a gas burner. The Scorpion monophotonic sensor is used as the recording equipment. As a result of processing the experimental data and mathematical modeling using computational fluid dynamics methods, the dependence of the propane concentration on the distance to the burner is constructed and the characteristic dimensions of the gas cloud are determined.