Identifying Abnormal Tank Emissions Using Ethane to Methane Signatures
of Oil and Natural Gas Production in the Permian Basin
Abstract
There has been increasing interest in quantifying methane emissions from
a view towards mitigation. Accordingly, ground-based sampling of oil and
gas production sites in the Permian Basin was carried out in January and
October 2020. Ethane to methane ratios (EMRs) were quantified which may
be used to distinguish emissions from particular sources, such as
produced gas and oil tank flashing. The logarithmic mean EMR for 102
observations was 18 (±2)%, while source specific EMRs showed that sites
where emissions were attributed to a tank produced much higher EMRs
averaging 44%. Sites with other noticeable sources such as compressors,
pneumatics, and separators had lower and less variable EMRs. Tanks
displayed distinct behavior with EMRs between 10-21% producing
CH4 emissions >30x higher than tanks with
EMRs >21%. This observation supports the hypothesis that
high emission rate tank sources are often caused by separator
malfunctions that leak produced gas through liquids storage tanks.