Innovation

New Mexico is looking at satellites and artificial intelligence to track methane emissions as soaring oil and natural gas production from the Permian Basin have brought concern in the community regarding climate change action.The state will use a model developed by Descartes Labs to map and quantify how much of greenhouse gas is being released.

In January 2020, new federal rules on methane measurement will be enforced in the Canadian oil and gas sector. The rules will require every oil and gas company in Canada to have a system in place in order to meet the goals of the 2016 agreement with the United States and Mexico on controlling methane emissions.Methane is a damaging greenhouse gas that has up to 30 times more potential to trap heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, and leaks can occur at every stage in oil and gas production, whether from flares, pipelines, equipment tanks and/or processors.The production of natural gas consists primarily of methane, and is particularly susceptible to leaks.

FLIR Systems has introduced the FLIR T860, the latest addition to the T-Series product line. This new thermal camera features onboard Inspection Route software, which is ideal for streamlining inspections of critical assets such as power substation components, distribution lines, manufacturing equipment, or facility electrical & mechanical systems.

Canadian researchers have discovered a way to extract hydrogen from oil without releasing greenhouse gases. Hydrogen is used by some car manufacturers to power vehicles and is also burned to generate electricity.

The Georgia Institute of Technology has develop an alternative to thermally driven distillation routes. Prompted by the energy-intensive nature of chemical separation processes critical in chemical manufacturing, materials were modified with atomic-scale metal oxide networks, resulting in membranes that can perform chemical separations at a lower energy consumption levels and can withstand harsh solvent-rich chemical streams than traditionally seen.Metal-containing vapors are infused into the prefabricated membrane by application of vapor phase infiltration technology.

A new handheld analyzer features laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for speed, increased accuracy and greater mobility for petrochemical plants, fabricators, scrap recyclers and quality control departments seeking to measure low concentrations of carbon in metal, The Thermo Scientific Niton Apollo handheld LIBS analyzer puts advanced technology into the hands of end users, allowing them to more quickly and precisely test metals for carbon content in the field.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a major greenhouse gas produced from burning fossil fuels that contributes to climate change. One way to cut down on CO2 emissions is through a carbon capture, which is a chemical technique that removes CO2 out of emissions, preventing it from entering the atmosphere.

The EIA recently released the July Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), which forecasts a 2.2% decrease in CO2 emissions in 2019.

Southwest Research Institute and The University of Texas at San Antonio are collaborating to gather data for a computational model for supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) energy generation.

Scientists at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany are producing graphene using carbon dioxide as a raw material.Researchers at KIT are presenting a process in which the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide together with hydrogen gas is converted directly into graphene at temperatures of up to 10,000 degrees Celsius with the help of catalytically active metal surfaces.Graphene is the two-dimensional form of the chemical element carbon, with interesting electrical properties.Several groups at KIT have collaborated to present this method for separating graphene from carbon dioxide and hydrogen by means of a metal catalyst.