METEC Facility: Modernization Efforts to Enhance Leak Detection Testing Capabilities
Why do we need to upgrade the facility?
The Methane Emissions Technology Evaluation Center (METEC) is a unique test and research facility for leak detection and quantification (LDAQ) technology development, field demonstration, hands-on LDAQ equipment training, and protocol and best practices development. The METEC facility is operated by Colorado State University (CSU), on CSU’s Foothills Campus.
A major rebuild is underway at the facility to make it more representative of today’s oil and gas facilities, including the selective addition of new equipment and facility elements thus improving the realism of testing at METEC. The updated facility will better represent the mixture of emissions commonly seen on upstream and midstream facilities, allowing more realistic testing of LDAQ solutions. Given the facility nominally acts as a wind simulator, it is critical that downwind detection methods see the same wind characteristics at METEC as in the field which requires modern equipment layouts.
Realism
- Facility should reproduce emissions patterns seen in field – operational emissions from gas pneumatics, combustion slip, etc.
- Operating oil and gas facility equipment density has greatly increased since 2017 when METEC was built, requiring additional equipment to be added
- Larger, longer, releases to match voluntary and regulatory reporting programs
Operational Simplicity
- Calibration periods required for METEC 1.0 hardware did not fit with near-continuous testing required by new ADED testing protocols
Facility Capabilities Based on Stakeholder Engagement
- Strong interest from industry to use sensing for operational efficiency
- Quickly identify problems
- Provide diagnostics for personnel dispatched to problems
- Identify problems that were unanticipated and therefore not in standard sensing
- In-process sensing can compliment downwind sensors for advanced lead problem detection and quantification
- Integration and analytics need improvement
SCADA ‘in process’ sensing
- Tons of data / poor analytics
- Sensing tied to equipment operations
- Potential for good diagnostics
Catch known, specific problems faster
Confirm and enhance detections
Downwind sensing
- Range of sensitivity and localization
- Looks ‘at everything’
- Typically poor at diagnosing issues
What testing programs are available?
In collaboration with our research and industry partners, METEC researchers are enhancing the testing capabilities at the METEC facility and in remote locations. Controlled releases for satellite-based detection solutions began in July 2025 from an industry partner’s site. Mobile remote release rigs are also available for deployment. Please contact us if any of these testing programs meet your needs.
| Continuous Monitors | Survey Solutions | Challenge Testing | |
|---|---|---|---|
Protocol Tests
| ADED Continuous Monitoring Test Campaigns | ADED Survey Tests: Test Campaigns or Individual Testing | ADED Protocol or Individual Testing |
| ADED Testing Protocol at Remote Locations (not at METEC) | |||
| Satellite Testing | |||
Passive Participation
| At METEC Facility – 3 testbeds: north side, small well pad, pipeline | ||
| METEC testing at satellite and remote facilities (not at METEC) | |||
Ad-hoc Testing
| At METEC Facility – 3 testbeds: north side, small well pad, pipeline | ||
| Satellite Testing | |||
| METEC testing at satellite and remote facilities (not at METEC) | |||
What are the METEC site capabilities?
The METEC facility benefits greatly from its industry partners who are willing to give their time and expertise to ensure the facility capabilities are relevant to current industry needs as well as generous donations of used equipment. These equipment donations are the foundation of the wind simulator effect needed for realistic testing capabilities. Recent equipment donations have dramatically increased the aerodynamic complexity of the site and are being leveraged to create new capabilities.
South Side “Production” testbed
- O&G equipment in place
- Due to canceled DOE funding, no further development can occur until alternative source of funding is identified
Pipeline testbed
- Four 20-meter sections distanced from above ground site for separation between release types
- Surrounding gravel roads for advanced mobile leak detection surveys
- Release range 0.001-9.0 kg/hr
- Significant capacity to expand
- Future section will be built for purpose, high level of variability in backfill configuration, depth, and pipeline material is possible
- Ability to add realistic obstructions; structures, vegetation, or cars
Our new pipeline testbed allows continuous operation of pipeline leaks just outside the main METEC facility. Two PHMSA projects are partially supporting non-stop testing and are open to anyone interested in advancing pipeline leak detection.
North Side ADED-style testbed
- Larger, more modern pads
- Capacity to support long duration (3-4 months) experiments like the ADED protocol testing campaigns
- Well equipped for ad hoc testing
- Variety of equipment types
- Multiple simultaneous release locations
- Wide range of release rates with increased granularity of control
- Very specific release rates can be held for longer duration
- Capable of variety of gas types and blends
- Realistic baseline experiments to simulate background emissions commonly found on O&G sites
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Small / Marginal Well pad testbed
- Current focus is testing least-cost approaches to instrumenting and monitoring a well site while still generating sufficient data sets
- Meet the needs of operators with marginally producing well site with smaller detection budgets
- Continuous monitoring for long duration test experiments
- Evaluating key metrics for determining how many instruments are needed
- Time to detection
- Cost per site
- Scalability
- Certainty of quantification, based on localized conditions
- Consistent wind direction will result in a quicker detection
- Inconsistent wind direction longer detection times and thus may need more sensors
- Can be used in conjunction with the North side, to conduct testing offsite emissions
METEC performs industry-relevant research using the METEC test site, field data collection and ‘proof of concept’ deployments in the field. Transmission operators were having issues with trace contaminate measurement at transmission transfer locations.METEC staff, in conjunction with an industry association and CSU faculty, tested instrumentation at CSU and supervised an extended field trial of the instrumentation.METEC’s extensive field work and conversations with operators, indicates that SCADA data often hints at abnormal process or equipment conditions that may eventually be picked up by downwind sensors. A recent field study looked at variability of emissions from wellhead engines by continuously monitoring the composition of the exhaust emissions. Simultaneous monitoring of the engine control unit indicated that perhaps periods with high emission would also be detectable by close, continuous, monitoring of the standard engine data feeds. METEC is looking for partners interesting in exploring if SCADA data feeds can be mined to detect issues quickly and accurately.
The METEC team is committed to a major rebuild of the METEC facility. While this will proceed more slowly with the termination of METEC 2.0 funding, there are options to guide METEC toward the capabilities you need to answer your questions. This applies to both our above- and below-ground sites and subject-specific test capabilities like a stuck dump valve.
Are you interested in obtaining months of controlled release data?
The METEC facility has controlled releases occurring almost continuously. In 2025, METEC created the passive participation model for solution companies to deploy their sensors at METEC to collect data. You install your sensors at a METEC testing location – the main facility or one of our remote testing locations – and collect data for your own use. You can’t control the gas releases but at a reduced cost, you can collect months of operational data including meteorological data to build data sets unique to your sensors.
Currently we are conducting regular controlled releases from the pipeline testbed at METEC, two facility subsets of the METEC site, and from a satellite release rig (large releases) in Western Colorado.
The METEC facility will once again be hosting a protocol testing campaign January – April, 2026 and is building the 4-month test program now. Once the controlled releases begin participants will receive weekly reports and data sets to support active R&D efforts.
Who do we contact for more information?
This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy under Award Number DE-FE0032276.
METEC counts on diverse stakeholders – operators, solution developers, engineering service providers, and NGOs – for all our research programs. These partnerships assure realism for our research and have traditionally provided cost share for governmental funding sources. Moving forward, industry participation and funding is more critical as federal funding disappears. Please reach out if you have ideas for site improvement, expanded testing capabilities or would like to utilize the site for your testing needs.
Kate Laughery | Associate Director, METEC | [email protected]
Dan Zimmerle | Director, METEC | [email protected]
