A type of flow sampler developed to monitor methane leaks from industrial sources may inadequately measure the gas, according to the New York Times. A researcher from the University of Texas made the find during a larger effort funded by the Environmental Defense Fund to characterize methane emissions across the United States. His discovery hints at the possibility that methane leaks could be exceeding estimates nationwide.<\/p>\n
The sampler in question, the Bacharach Hi Flow Sampler, operates with two sensors: one for low methane emissions and another for higher levels. The researcher, Touche Howard, found that the sampler inadequately switches from using the low-level sensor and, if improperly calibrated, can get stuck in the low-emission measurement mode.<\/p>\n
When the sampler malfunctions, Howard says there is no way to determine just how much measurement error is occurring. Only a few industrial methane leaks each year are responsible for most escaped methane, he notes, pointing out that poor measurements of them could skew the U.S. EPA\u2019s methane inventory. <\/p>\n
Howard owns a patent for a high-flow-rate sampler, the technology for which is used in the Bacharach device.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A type of flow sampler developed to monitor methane leaks from industrial sources may inadequately measure the gas, according to the New York Times. A researcher from the University of Texas made the find during a larger effort funded by the Environmental Defense Fund to characterize methane emissions across the United States. His discovery hints […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":9002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,7],"tags":[345,165,103],"class_list":["post-22855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-atmosphere","category-news","tag-earth-atmosphere","tag-methane","tag-news-2"],"remote_post_permalink":false,"remote_post_featured_image":false,"yoast_head":"\n