In 2024, ABB saw significant increase in the demand for its trusted MobileGuard™ natural gas leak detection solution compared to the previous year. As oil and gas companies and natural gas utilities in Europe and North America look for ways to comply with environmental regulations and make their infrastructure safer and more resilient, detecting and measuring natural gas leaks has become vital.
Detecting gas leaks with ABB's MobileGuard™ and MicroGuard™. Image Credit: ABB
In August 2024, the EU Methane Regulation kicked into force making it mandatory for operators of energy infrastructure in Europe to regularly measure methane emissions and eliminate gas leaks fast. As natural gas is primarily composed of methane, leakages from natural gas pipelines are important to contain.
At the same time, extreme weather events such as hurricanes and tornadoes have become more common due to the impact of climate change, making it imperative for energy companies such as in North America to find more reliable ways to inspect energy infrastructure quickly and economically.
There are more than 1.1 million km of pipelines in the world - enough to circle the Earth 30 times. These pipelines are typically buried underground, making it difficult to detect unwanted leaks of methane, which is invisible, odorless, and does not leave a smoke trail.
"The effective detection of leaks and measurement of emissions around natural gas pipelines is vital for our energy customers for ensuring compliance and safety of infrastructure but traditional methods are slow and lacking the accuracy and sensitivity required," said Jason Ghiraldini, Global Product Manager, Natural Gas Leak Detection, ABB Measurement & Analytics. "There has been a long-term commitment from ABB to the development of multiple innovative emissions monitoring and gas leak technologies that help our customers perform optimally."
The vehicle-mounted, laser-based MobileGuard™ has sensitivity over 1,000 times higher than conventional technologies and is 10 times faster than traditional equipment in detecting single parts per billion (ppb) of methane and ethane. It measures methane and ethane concentrations simultaneously several times per second, using OA-ICOS™ technology (off-axis integrated cavity output spectroscopy), which works by using a tunable laser source that produces light at a selected wavelength for interacting with the gases.
MobileGuard™ is part of ABB’s portfolio of gas leak detection solutions that are designed to operate autonomously or in combination. Drone-based HoverGuard™ detects and quantifies methane leaks in hard-to-reach assets and landfills, while the portable MicroGuard™ is used for conducting surveys on foot to quickly pinpoint leak source locations. The portfolio combines high performance laser-based measurement technology with advanced data analysis software to provide customers with the most comprehensive, effective and efficient methods for finding, quantifying, and fixing gas leaks.
Analyzers based on ABB’s OA-ICOS™ have also been used by researchers worldwide for over twenty years to record trace gas concentrations from the Arctic to the Amazon for scientific purposes requiring the highest accuracy.