Midstream Quantification, Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (QMRV) Project Planning and Execution

Summary:

The Quantification, Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (QMRV) Project aims to produce an accurate representation of Cheniere’s (a major liquified natural gas (LNG) company) supply chain greenhouse gas emissions. The goal of this project is to improve emissions transparency, verify accuracy of reported emissions, and achieve emissions reductions. There are three phases of the project: A Baseline Phase, Enhanced Monitoring Phase, and a Verification Phase. The Baseline Phase will measure the total facility emissions using Top-Down (TD) (aerial and drone) and Bottom-Up (BU) (ground) technologies to compare against the Operator Estimated Inventory (OEI). The Enhanced Monitoring Phase the Operator will observe and estimate the emissions of the facility each month for 6-months. A measurement technology will come once a month to measure the site emissions. The Verification Phase will be two TD verification measurements of the full-facility emissions at the end of the project.

This study focused on full-facility estimates from TD methods at 15 midstream natural gas facilities in the U.S.A., and were compared with a contemporaneous daily inventory assembled by the facility operator, employing comprehensive inventory methods. CSU is working with SLR (the prime contractor), CSU role in the project is the Scientific Measurement Team – our role is to analyze and verify the data.

Objectives:

Reduce emissions across the supply chain, verify accuracy of reported emissions and improve emission transparency;
Understand and quantify the emissions from a small select set of enrolled facilities from midstream participants;
Demonstrate the effectiveness and limitations of the deployed total site rate quantification methods (two total site aerial measurements);
Compare the company inventory to the total site measurements. These should also be informed by other data, such as collected stack testing data provided by the participants;
Review results of the selected enhanced monitoring technologies that participants deployed on their midstream facilities (in a monthly review and reconciliation);
Produce measurement informed inventories (MII) methods using multi-scale measurements. This will keep inventories up to date and create a more defensible inventory.

Funding Provided by:

Cheniere Energy

Collaborators:

SLR, Cheniere, several other midstream companies

Project overview:

QMRV Project Overview PPT

Research

Integrating Technical Economic and Management Requirements for Successful Measurement Informed Inventory: A Case Study

Brown, Jenna, Zimmerle, Dan

Baseline

Baseline Operator Estimated Inventory
- GHGRP + methods in protocol
- Supplemental sources + default factors from latest studies
Baseline Measurement (multi-sale, multi-technology)
Measurement Informed Inventory v. Operator Estimated Inventory

Goals:

Compare emissions estimate vs measurement
Observe emissions behavior of site, including frequency of events (if observed)
Correlate normal vs. abnormal events (if observed) with site records (O&M logs)
Inform planning for rest of project, what are potential major sources

Enhanced Monitoring

Phase 1: Enhanced Monitoring (Monthly OGI, LDAR, AVO, etc.)
Monthly Operator Estimated Inventory
- Quantification of all sources, including supplemental sources via supplemental methods
- Review O&M Records

Goals:

Assess emissions profiles over 6-month period using available technologies or estimates
Assess how emissions events align with operations and maintenance records, estimate frequency of stochastic events (super emitter events)

End of Project

End-of-Project Measurement
- Aerial measurement “spot check”
Operator End-of-Project Report
- Includes all Operator Estimated Inventories
Verification of emissions by Third-Party Verified and Independent Assessor, correlation of emissions with O&M records

Goals:

Verify intensity numbers, assess if emission intensity target was met
Produce independent assessment report evaluating the efficacy of employed technologies
Assess scalability of monitoring plan/technologies

QMRV Project Timeline

	Activity	Notes	Responsible Party
	QMRV Plan	Operator must develop QMRV Plan for enrolled facilities and append to QMRV R&D Agreement	Operator
Baseline Phase (Month 0-2)	Top-Down Baseline Measurement	Scientific Measurement Team measures emissions for Enrolled Facilities	Scientific Measurement Team
	Bottom-Up Baseline Measurement		Scientific Measurement Team
	Baseline Operator Estimated Inventory	Emissions Inventory for the Baseline Phase, including O&M logs, due 30 days after Baseline Measurements	Operator
	Baseline Measurement Report	Scientific Measurement Team provides Report to Cheniere and Operator, due 60 days after Baseline Measurements	Scientific Measurement Team
Enhanced Monitoring Phase (Month 3 - 8)	Phase 1 Monitoring	Monthly leak detection and weekly surveys (AVD & control systems), starts after final Baseline Report is delivered	Operator
	Monthly Operator Estimated Inventory	Operator provides monthly emissions inventory report reflecting the Enhanced Monitoring Phase	Operator
	Phase 2 Enhanced Monitoring Plan	Due 90 days from commencement of the Enhanced Monitoring Phase (parties may agree to implement Phase 2)	Operator
	Phase 2 Monitoring (Optional)	Continuous or near-continuous detection & measurement	Operator
Verification Phase	Top-Down End-of-Project Verification Measurement	Measurement Personnel carry out End-of Project Top-Down Verification Measurement of Enrolled Assets	Scientific Measurement Team
	Top-Down Verification Measurement Report	Due within 60 days of the completion of the End-of-Project Top-Down Verification Measurement.	Scientific Measurement Team
	Operator End-of-Project Report	Due within 30 days of receipt of Top-Down Verification Measurement Report, including final Operator Estimated Inventory with a Management Assertion.	Operator
	Third-Party Verification Report	Due with 60 days of receipt of Operator End-of-Project Report, including Gap Analysis comparison with QMRV Plan	Third Party Verifier
	Independent Assessor's Report	Due within 30 days of receipt of Third-Party Verification Report	Independent Assessor

Results:

In the baseline phase, the following results were determined: between the two TD measurement methods, there was a 31% difference in the mean over 15 facilities.