Methane Emissions from Gathering Compressor Stations in the U.S

Using results from a nationally-representative measurement campaign at 180 gathering compressor stations conducted with nine industry partners, this study estimated emissions for the U.S. gathering sector, where sector-specific emission factors have not been previously available. The study drew from...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science & technology 2020-06, Vol.54 (12), p.7552-7561
Main Authors: Zimmerle, Daniel, Vaughn, Timothy, Luck, Ben, Lauderdale, Terri, Keen, Kindal, Harrison, Matthew, Marchese, Anthony J, Williams, Laurie L, Allen, David Thomas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
03 NATURAL GAS
compressor station
Compressors
Confidence intervals
Emission analysis
Emission inventories
emissions
gathering and boosting
Greenhouse effect
Greenhouse gases
Methane
natural gas
Stations
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Using results from a nationally-representative measurement campaign at 180 gathering compressor stations conducted with nine industry partners, this study estimated emissions for the U.S. gathering sector, where sector-specific emission factors have not been previously available. The study drew from a partner station population of 1705 stations -- a significantly larger pool than was available for prior studies. Data indicated that whole gas emission rates from components on gathering stations were comparable-to-higher than emission factors utilized by EPA's greenhouse gas reporting program (GHGRP), but less than emission factors used for similar components on transmission compressor stations. Field data also indicated that the national population of stations likely has a higher fraction of smaller stations, operating at lower throughput per station, than the data used to develop the per-station emission factor used in EPA's greenhouse gas inventory (GHGI). This was the first national study to incorporate extensive activity data reported to the GHGRP, including 319 basin-level reports, covering 15,895 reported compressors. Combining study emissions data with 2017 GHGRP activity data, the study indicated statistically lower national emissions of 1,290 [1,246 to 1,342] Gg methane per year, or 66% [64% to 69%] of current GHGI estimates, despite estimating 17% [12% to 22%] more stations than the 2017 GHGI (95% confidence interval). Finally, we propose a replicable method that uses GHGRP activity data to annually update GHGI gathering and boosting sector emissions.
ISSN:0013-936X
1520-5851
DOI:10.1021/acs.est.0c00516