Bridger Photonics had developed a method of monitoring methane gas that eliminates the need to visit sites on foot. With its advanced technology, gas mapping lidar (light detection and ranging), sites are scanned from aircraft.

This technology quickly and sensitively detects and estimates methane emissions from production to transmission to distribution of natural gas. Clients receive a map with GPS coordinates that locates, images and estimates the quantity of every detectable emission within the client’s infrastructure. The data gives field crews the necessary information to find and prioritize leaks easily.

Gas mapping lidar reduces the timeline for these inspections from six months to days, said Dr. Pete Roos, CEO and co-founder of Bridger Photonics. "Bridger precisely locates and accurately quantifies methane emissions across broad areas so operators only need to deploy field crews when a leak is detected. This is a win-win for everyone involved: Bridger enables responsible operations while saving operators the cost and hazards of unnecessary visits to 60% to 90% of their sites."

Source: Bridger Photonics

Oil and gas producers must inspect their equipment and operations for leaks of methane volatile organic compounds and other pollutants in order to comply with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regulations (40 CFR Part 60 Subpart OOOOa). To accomplish this, field crews visit hundreds of thousands of production sites in the U.S. on foot to inspect every piece of equipment by hand to find any leaks. This method is expensive, time consuming and exposes the inspectors to on-site hazards.

In its quest to identify the most efficient and effective ways to detect and quantify methane leaks, ExxonMobil conducted field trials as part of its extensive vetting process. Bridger Photonics’ gas mapping lidar was selected to be the first technology included in the first-ever application for an Alternate Means of Emissions Limitation (AMEL) for the EPA regulation. The AMEL application seeks to replace ground crew visits with gas mapping lidar.

"Our experience shows us the technology available today can detect leaks more efficiently than the manual processes federal regulations now require. ExxonMobil is deploying next-generation detection technologies under real-world operating conditions as part of our overall commitment to reduce methane emissions in our operations," said Bart Cahir, senior vice president of unconventionals at ExxonMobil.

"This AMEL application represents a massive breakthrough for the oil and gas industry and for Bridger," Roos added.

Bridger Photonics' developed gas mapping lidar with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy's advanced research arm, ARPA-E, and won an R&D 100 award in 2019 recognizing the top 100 innovations worldwide for that year.