Summary
Ultrasonic gas-leak detection (UGLD) is gaining broader acceptance in the
oil and gas industry as a means for detecting combustible-gas leaks. UGLD
responds to high-pressure leaks by measuring the airborne ultrasound emitted,
which when detected by the sensor provides a measure that is proportional to
the leak rate. Principal advantages of the technology are that it does not
require gas to be transported to the detector and it provides coverage for a
relatively large area, up to 20 m in radius, suggesting that UGLD is suitable
for detecting gas releases in open, well-ventilated sections of offshore
platforms.
Despite such advantages, the location criteria and commissioning and
routine-maintenance procedures for UGLD are not as well understood as those for
conventional gas detectors. A reason might be that UGLD requires the
establishment of an ambient ultrasonic background-noise level to decide the
alarm level and assist with selection of optimal location, a requirement that
has no parallel with point IR or catalytic sensors. Location of ultrasonic
gas-leak detectors is also based on identifying the potential sources of leaks
and taking into account acoustic reflections and interferences caused by
continuous or short-time-scale background ultrasonic noise.
Such newness might be enough to give some would-be users pause. They may
believe that UGLD is for people with high technical competence or that mapping,
commissioning, and maintenance are best left to UGLD-equipment manufacturers.
Experience by one of the authors of this monograph suggests the contrary. UGLD,
for its reliance on ultrasound as a proxy for a gas leak, is a simple concept
to understand. Over the course of more than 3,000 installations during the last
10 years, offshore-platform personnel have developed best practices that reduce
the time and cost required for installing and commissioning ultrasonic gas
monitors and that ease the burden on maintenance. In this report, we examine
several of these procedures and highlight the simplicity of installation and
maintenance of this method of gas detection.
© 2011. Society of Petroleum Engineers
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History
- Original manuscript received:
24 August 2010
- Meeting paper published:
2 November 2010
- Revised manuscript received:
30 December 2010
- Manuscript approved:
12 January 2011
- Published online:
12 August 2011
- Version of record:
16 December 2011
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