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W H I T E PA P E R
Natural gas pipeline safety:
Leak detection technology’s quantum leap
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N AT U R A L G A S P I P E L I N E S A F E T Y: L E A K D E T EC T I O N T EC H N O LO G Y ’ S Q U A N T U M L E A P
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Natural gas pipeline safety:
Leak detection technology’s quantum leap
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$2 billion
annually
is the value of
leaked gas from
pipelines—
whether part of an
incident or not
Pipelines are both the safest and most economical
means for transporting natural gas (i.e., methane).
According the US Energy information Administration (EIA), nearly all gas shipments in the US
happen on the almost 3 million miles of the nation’s
pipeline infrastructure.
Gas pipeline leaks also negate some of the
environmental benefits of switching from coal to
gas-fired power generation because methane is a
potent greenhouse gas, 21 times stronger than CO2
over a 100 year time horizon but 84 times stronger
than CO2 over a 20 year period. 10
A Manhattan Institute report using data from the
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration (PHMSA) show that pipelines are 22
times safer than road transport and 2.3 times safer
than rail as measured by the number of serious
incidents (those involving injury or death) per
billion ton-miles transported per year. 1
Natural gas is king, but leaks remain a challenge
EIA forecasts US gas production to grow steadily
through 2025 at 1.9 percent annually under the
agency’s “reference case” scenario. 5 The industrial
sector (e.g., gas used as feedstock in chemical
plants or for process heat) accounts for the bulk of
the growth. The biggest users remain electric
utilities as they continue their transition away from
coal and toward gas-fired generation.
However, when pipelines do fail, the damage can be
catastrophic. PHMSA data show that from 20002019 a total of 686 serious incidents occurred on
gas pipelines, accounting for 253 fatalities and
1,111 injuries. 2 That’s an average of more than 12
deaths and 55 injuries per year—well below the
rates for some other natural resource sectors like
coal mining, but still sobering.
These incidents also come with financial
consequences that are borne by industry and the
public. According to PHMSA data, between 2005
and 2020, serious incidents on pipelines resulted
in more than $7.7 billion in damages with the
industry picking up around 83.3 percent of the
cost and the public the remaining 16.7 percent 3.
EPA estimates that around 1.4 percent of all
produced gas is lost to leaks.4 In 2019, that
amounted to more than 471,000 mmcf8, which at
the “city gate” price of $3.80/mcf is roughly
equivalent to $1.8 billion.
However, due to the growing appreciation of the
total cost to the environment due to climatic
changes, some studies indicate that the effective
price of fugitive emissions could be $27/mcf9
which would be equivalent to $12.8 billion.
Additionally, exports of liquified natural gas (LNG)
are set to double by 2030 while exports to Mexico
and Canada are projected to rise as well. Both
trends are driving the addition of new pipeline
capacity. In all, EIA estimates that more than 16
billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas
pipeline capacity was added in 2019 alone.6
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N AT U R A L G A S P I P E L I N E S A F E T Y: L E A K D E T EC T I O N T EC H N O LO G Y ’ S Q U A N T U M L E A P
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Figure 01
Today’s gas detection
sensors can be fitted
to road vehicles,
aircraft or drones.
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Figure 02
Using today’s mobile
systems, gas technicians
can cover 10-25 times
as much area per
hour compared to
traditional technology.
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01
—
02
While our reliance on pipelines is increasing, our
gas pipeline infrastructure is aging. More than half
of it was built before 1970 and can be prone to
leaks, though estimates vary as to the total amount
of gas lost. A November 2019 study published in the
journal Science estimates methane emissions from
both oil and gas operations at 2.3 percent of total
production per year7, significantly higher than the
EPA estimate.
To understand what makes modern leak detection
technology better, it’s important to know where we
are starting from.
Regardless of the topline figure, America’s
pipelines suffer thousands of leaks and ruptures
every year and they can be triggered by a wide
range of causes (see sidebar).
Regulatory response
On 27 December 2020, the Protecting Our
Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety
(PIPES) Act of 2020 was signed into law. The Act
directs gas pipeline operators to use advanced leak
detection technologies to conduct leak detection
and repair programs that protect the environment
and pipeline safety.
Finding a needle in a needle stack
The first step to fixing leaks is finding them, but
traditional methods are slow, inaccurate, and
insensitive. Bottom line: they miss leaks. Technicians
must walk the area being inspected using hand-held
detectors that can take up to 45 minutes to calibrate
once on site. Because these systems test the air only
every few seconds, the technician must move slowly
through the suspected leak site. Test results are
manually entered in reporting systems, adding more
time to the process.
Recent advances in sensing, analytics and mobile
technology have created a wave of gas leak
detection solutions that perform significantly
better than traditional methods. These systems
can detect methane from natural gas leaks at
concentrations of 1 part per billion (ppb) or less and
respond in less than a second.
More than digging accidents
Gas pipeline leaks occur at all points in the network from collection systems at the
well to pipelines under streets and buildings. Causes of leaks can vary:
• Excavating accidents that result in the rupturing, nicking or puncturing of a pipeline
• Placing extremely heavy materials or equipment over buried pipelines
• Water main breaks that weaken roadways and pavement
• Excess accumulation of snow and ice on meters, gas pipes,
and gas appliance exhaust and combustion air vents
• Fire or explosion near a pipeline
• Too much or not enough pressure in the gas system
• Equipment failure or corrosion
• Natural disasters such as floods, tornadoes or earthquakes
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N AT U R A L G A S P I P E L I N E S A F E T Y: L E A K D E T EC T I O N T EC H N O LO G Y ’ S Q U A N T U M L E A P
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Figure 03
Modern gas detection
technology covers more
area in less time than
conventional methods
covers 10-25 times
1,000 times
more land area per hour than
traditional on foot methods
more sensitive than traditional
hand-held detectors
up to 300 feet
Distance MobileGuardTM detects
methane leaks from a moving car
ABB’s mobile gas leak detection solutions leverage
advanced laser-based sensors, GPS technology and
analytic software to dramatically improve both the
speed and accuracy of gas leak identification and
location. The difference in precision and accuracy
between this technology and previous approaches is
greater than 1,000 to 1. That is analogous to the
difference between today’s high-definition TV and
the black and white sets of old.
How it works
Combined with a GPS module, an onboard
ultrasonic anemometer to measure wind velocity,
and advanced proprietary analytics, ABB’s
MobileGuard™ can detect, precisely locate, and
accurately estimate the size of natural gas leaks at
a rate that covers 10 to 25 times more land area per
hour than traditional methods. Importantly, it
eliminates false positives associated with biogenic
sources of methane like sewage and animal waste
by also detecting ethane, found only in
thermogenic pipeline gas, along with methane.
This technology can detect methane from leaks
from up to 300 feet away in a vehicle moving at 55
mph. ABB offers similar solutions for detecting,
mapping and quantifying leaks while flying a drone
(HoverGuard™), walking (MicroGuard™) and in
stationary applications (EverGuard™). All of these
solutions are also cloud-connected and
cybersecure to enable immediate sharing of the
comprehensive results describing locations and
sizes of leaks in real time.
The combination of speed, accuracy and
operational efficiency helps pipeline operators and
service providers meet the demand for fast,
accurate and transparent data while streamlining
their operations. Most importantly, these new
solutions based on ABB’s proven LGR-ICOS
technology are currently being used by companies
up and down the natural gas value chain across the
US and around the globe.
Policy Recommendations
The digital age has transformed natural gas leak detection practices,
enabling exponential improvements in sensitivity, accuracy, speed, and
cost. As Congress contemplates legislation to ensure a safe and reliable
natural gas pipeline system, we encourage lawmakers to take recent
advances in commercially available technologies into account when
designing a new pipeline safety law.
Any gas leak detection law should include the ability to do three basic
things: (1) detect leaks, (2) precisely identify their location, and (3)
accurately estimate their size. To accomplish this, we recommend that any
leak detection system be capable of the following:
1
—
Detecting
Detecting natural gas leaks
of 0.5 standard cubic feet
per hour (SCFH)
2 3
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Locating
Providing an accurate
estimate of the location
of the leak source
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Estimating Size
Estimating the
volumetric emissions
rate of the leak.
Endnotes
[5]
EIA demand forecast
[6]
EIA, https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/
detail.php?id=41933
[2]
PHMSA, https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/dataand-statistics/pipeline/pipeline-incident-20year-trends
[7]
[3]
PHMSA, https://portal.phmsa.dot.gov/
analytics/saw.dll?Portalpages&PortalPath=
%2Fshared%2FPDM%20Public%20Website
%2F_portal%2FSC%20Incident%20
Trend&Page=Significant%20Incidents%20
Consequences
“Major US cities are leaking methane at twice
the rate previously believed,” https://www.
sciencemag.org/news/2019/07/major-uscities-are-leaking-methane-twice-ratepreviously-believed
[8]
“Natural Gas Summary”, EIA, https://www.eia.
gov/dnav/ng/ng_sum_lsum_dcu_nus_a.htm
[9]
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/
full/10.1086/700301#_i9
[10]
https://www.carbontax.org/methane/
[4]
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ABB Inc.
1455 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20004
abb.com/us
CNBC, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/06/
the-us-natural-gas-industry-leaking-waymore-methane-than-ever-before.html
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9AKK107046A9202
“Pipelines vs. rail transport for natural gas”,
Energy Services South,
https://energyservicessouth.com/pipelines-vsrail-transport-for-natural-gas/
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