Ongoing Projects:
Accelerating Pipeline Leak Detection Quantification Solutions
Synopsis: The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) requested improvements in pipeline leak detection in diverse operating conditions by developing a methods-centric rather than technology-specific understanding of leak detection in adverse conditions, with an emphasis on pipeline emissions in rugged landscapes. For this, we will run suites of controlled release experiments to test the validity of different leak detection and quantification (LDAQ) methods. Then, we will test our developed LDAQ methods at real-world pipeline sites.
Funding Sources: PHMSA Award No. 693JK32210006POTA
Response Protocol for Large Underground Methane Emissions (R-PLUME)
Synopsis: Underground natural gas pipeline leakage, especially at moderate to high flow rates, can result in gas migration and buildup, producing explosive concentrations within nearby substructures. A critical knowledge gap is knowing how environmental conditions affect gas migration behavior in these scenarios and how emergency first responders can factor them into decision-making. As part of the project, we review historical incident reports from PHMSA and identify if conclusions drawn from our field measurements could have prevented the incident.
Funding Sources: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration; Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission
Upstream Pipeline Safety, Integrity and Detection (UPSIDE)
Synopsis: The major aim of this project is to better understand sub-surface gas migration in Upstream pipelines, i.e., Flowlines: pipelines that transport fluid from the wellhead to/between individual equipment in a well site, and Gathering lines: pipelines that transport fluids from a well pad to gathering compressor stations or to processing plants. This project studies two major aspects of gas leaks in Upstream pipelines, 1.) how gas migrates underground, and 2.) how to best detect sub-surface gas leaks on the surface and in the atmosphere.
Funding Sources: Mark Martinez and Joey Irwin Memorial Public Projects Fund
Innovative Sensor Network for Subsurface Emissions
Synopsis: To ensure that a known or potential gas leak situation from an underground pipeline is addressed as safely as possible, there is an urgent need for monitoring and evaluating changes to gas leakage over time. However, this need is wrought with operational challenges related to the quality and quantity of leakage data stemming from a lack of data-driven, real-time control. Therefore, we will develop, test and deploy a novel natural gas sensing protocol that provides operators with key critical knowledge on gas behavior over time.
Funding Sources: Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA); Competitive Academic Agreement Program PHMSA CAAP
Synopsis: A critical challenge for Land Surface Models (LSMs) is to properly simulate processes at the surface and the subsurface and their feedbacks to the atmosphere. Even given the same climate forcing, LSMs predict different surface fluxes and soil moisture conditions. Increasing confidence in climate predictions requires revisiting process understanding and using that understanding to improve model representation of critical land-atmosphere feedbacks. We are addressing this challenge by exploring our understanding and modeling of mass and energy exchange at the land-atmosphere interface over a wide range of scales, providing new insights into mass and thermal flux process interactions that will ultimately lead to better predictive models and characterization methods.
Funding Sources: National Science Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
Predicting Natural Gas Migration
Synopsis: Natural gas (NG) pipeline safety has greatly improved in recent decades but incidents still occur, oftentimes associated with aging infrastructure, excavation and human error. Pipeline leakage which results in the gas buildup and migration though soil and ultimately its release into the air or a substructure (e.g. basement) can be catastrophic. What is not well understood in pipeline leakage incidents, is how the environmental conditions affected the gas migration behavior. Our work is addressing this challenge by trying to better understand the conditions that cause gas migration, and how we can account for such factors in our decision making.
Funding Sources: Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Methane Observation Networks with Innovative Technology to Obtain Reductions (MONITOR), Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America (RPSEA)
Past Projects:
Responsible Mining, Resilient Communities
Synopsis: Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is a large source of environmental contamination, but is also one of the most influential sectors in developing countries. Previous research has investigated the extent of mercury contamination that can be found at ASGM sites, but few projects have examined the presence of other contaminants or offer remediation techniques to address these concerns. Our project aims to examine the extent of environmental impact in ASGM communities in Colombia and Peru. We work with community members to co-develop remediation strategies for contaminants of concern and to offer a comparison between different ASGM sites that can be applied to future research.
Funding sources: US National Science Foundation
Increasing the Efficiency of Soil Borehole Thermal Energy Storage Systems
Synopsis: In this work, we investigate the engineering challenges, environmental impacts, and implementation strategies for soil borehole thermal energy storage (SBTES) of thermal energy from renewable energy sources in the shallow subsurface (20 to 50 meters). Although SBTES systems in the vadose zone have been empirically assessed in pilot projects, their design and operation are oftentimes not guided by validated analyses which consider the physics of heat and mass transfer in the vadose zone. The objective of this research is to seek the optimum scalable energy storage efficiency for SBTES using numerical simulations validated with the field- and laboratory-scale experiments. This project is a collaborative effort between the University of Colorado, Boulder and Colorado School of Mines.
Funding Sources: National Science Foundation
Understanding the Environmental Conditions that Affect Mine Detection Performance
Synopsis: Many variables such as soil type, climate, topography, and vegetation make detection and removal of landmines difficult. Detecting small mines in large areas is especially difficult when the area is highly heterogeneous with features that can mask the presence of the mine. Mine detection success depends on a number of factors that include burial depth, moisture content, soil heterogeneity, mine properties, as well as the time of day during when the scanning is performed. The goal of this research is to investigate how buried objects, geological features and different types of environmental excitations (e.g. air moisture, temperature, wind speed) affect spatial and temporal distributions of moisture and temperature in the soil. This information can be used to better understand, model/simulate, and predict the environmental conditions that are most dynamic to mine detection performance.
Funding Sources: Army Research Office and U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers Research and Development Center (ERDC)