Portable Methane Detection System

Portable Methane Detection System


Program:
MONITOR
Award:
$4,255,000
Location:
Houston, Texas
Status:
ALUMNI
Project Term:
04/16/2015 - 08/15/2018

Technology Description:

Rebellion Photonics plans to develop portable methane gas cloud imagers that can wirelessly transmit real-time data to a cloud-based computing service. This would allow data on the concentration, leak rate, location, and total emissions of methane to be streamed to a mobile device, like an iPad, smartphone, or Google Glass. The infrared imaging spectrometers will leverage snapshot spectral imaging technology to provide multiple bands of spectral information for each pixel in the image. Similar to a Go Pro camera, the miniature, lightweight camera is planned to be attached to a worker’s hardhat or clothing, allowing for widespread deployment. By providing a real-time image of the plume to a mobile device, the technology’s goal is to provide increased awareness of leaks for faster leak repair. This system could enable significant reduction in the cost associated with identifying, quantifying, and locating methane leaks as compared to currently available technologies.

Potential Impact:

If successful, natural gas operators could equip onsite workers with Rebellion’s wearable monitors, which would be able to communicate data on the location and quantity of methane emissions to a user’s handheld device and a centralized database, dramatically decreasing the time from detection to mitigation.

Security:

Better methane detection technologies could improve the sustainability of domestic natural gas production and the safety of operations.

Environment:

Enhanced detection sensors could enable greater mitigation of methane leakage and lead to an overall reduction in harmful methane emissions associated with natural gas development.

Economy:

Rebellion’s innovation could decrease the costs of methane detection and help accelerate the adoption of monitoring programs at the nation’s more than 480,000 producing natural gas wells.

Contact

ARPA-E Program Director:
Dr. Joseph King
Project Contact:
Dr. Robert Kester
Press and General Inquiries Email:
ARPA-E-Comms@hq.doe.gov
Project Contact Email:
robert@rebellionphotonics.com

Related Projects


Release Date:
04/29/2014