Another way to think about METEC is, oddly enough, as a ‘wind simulator.’ The METEC facility mimics real-world oil and gas facility layout and equipment. As a result, wind transport disperses emissions similar to real-world conditions. This allows Leak Detection and Quantification (LDAQ) solutions to understand how their solutions operate in challenging field conditions using controllable emissions sources. The result is a unique facility for developing and characterizing LDAQ solutions. 

Two pipeline testbeds were developed in 2017–18 as part of the initial facility construction. Underground test beds include an array of underground resources that simulate natural gas pipelines—both pipeline structures and rights-of-ways (ROWs) with hidden leak locations. METEC also has unique engineered test beds for underground emissions research—a 10×20-meter sand-filled pit, 2 meters deep, with specially engineered underground features for disrupting gas flow. This testbed provides a unique, controllable, facility for developing fundamental models of gas migration underground.   

The research team at METEC specializes in developing approaches to evaluate open research questions, providing technical expertise to regulators and oil and gas operators, and advancing technologies to mitigate methane emissions through rigorous test programs. Examples of such work include measuring of 300+ orphaned and abandoned wells in Colorado—the largest single-set of measurements to date on this class of wells—evaluation of 30+ technologies through the Advancing the Development of Emissions Detection (ADED) project, training optical gas imaging technicians, and providing guidance on test programs for over 100 companies and technologies.