Effective monitoring of Industrial Emissions

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Effective monitoring of industrial emissions must include rapid and reliable detection of both intentional and fugitive emissions, along with the ability to interpret and share results with colleagues.

Picarro’s patented CRDS technology gives you the ultimate combination of precision, stability and ease of use. Our instruments can detect multiple gases with parts-per-billion sensitivity in ambient conditions, enabling simultaneous detection of the smallest emissions, including tracers or stable isotopes.

Meanwhile, the rugged and flexible design, allied with strict manufacturing and test procedures, gives you the ability to deploy rapidly and measure on the move. Picarro is truly changing how, when and where the most important measurements are being made.

Emission source attribution

Researchers from Dauphin Island Sea Lab use Picarro carbon isotope analyzers to study the sources and sinks of deep sea methane. Stable isotopic analysis is key because methane has numerous sources in the deep ocean, including benthic microbes, natural seeps, methane clathrates and anthropogenic discharges, such the Deepwater Horizon spill.

Fugitive carbon sequestration emissions

Scientists at CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research use Picarro carbon isotope analyzers to test a method for monitoring the atmosphere in the vicinity of a geological storage project to detect and quantify potential emissions. The strategy includes measurements of CO₂, CO₂ fluxes and tracers, combined with model simulations of atmospheric dispersion and ecosystem CO₂ fluxes.

Characterization of hydrocarbon emissions

A multispecies analysis approach was used by scientists at NOAA to look at greenhouse gas emissions in a Colorado Basin with a large number of landfills, animal feeding operations and oil and gas activity. Picarro analyzers were used to measure methane, CO₂ and stable isotopes. The study looked at bottom-up speciated emissions and top-down scenarios for the amount of natural gas leaked to the atmosphere. The analysis suggests oil and gas emissions may be underestimated by as much as a factor of two.

Airborne characterization of hydrocarbon emissions

A Picarro flight-ready analyzer was used along with flask measurements by a group of scientists from NOAA, University of Colorado, Lawrence Berkley and Lawrence Livermore National Labs and University of California to measure in situ CO₂, CO, and CH₄ concentrations over and downwind of Sacramento, California. Strong correlations were observed between CO₂ emitted from fossil fuel and trace gases associated with urban emissions, indicating this method can be used to verify and improve emission inventories for other poorly known species and to separate biogenic CO₂ cycles.

Airborne measurements of air quality

A Picarro analyzer for measuring CO₂, CH₄, CO and H₂O vapor was used onboard an aircraft in Alaska by NOAA researchers studying greenhouse gases in the arctic. Their publication shows the accuracy of the Picarro carbon monoxide (CO) measurement in humid air, which were validated against discrete NOAA/ESRL flask sample measurements made on board the same aircraft. These results indicate that the CRDS technique provides an accurate and low-maintenance method for monitoring the atmospheric dry mole fractions of CO in humid air streams, from aircraft.

Picarro products used for industrial emissions monitoring include:

G2201-i – Continuous and discrete measurement of δ¹³O₂ and δ¹³CH₄ for sourcing and partitioning

G2132-i – Continuous and discrete measurement of δ¹³CH₄ for sourcing and partitioning

G2401 – Continuous and discrete measurement of CO₂, CH₄, CO and H₂O

G2401-m – Flight-based measurement of CO₂, CH₄, CO and H₂O

G2103 – Continuous monitoring of NH₃ concentrations

G2203 – Simultaneous measurement of CH₄ and C₂H₂

G2204 – Simultaneous measurement of CH₄ and H₂S