Executive Summary

With the latest EPA regulations allowing the use of approved advanced technologies for methane emissions monitoring, Sensirion Connected Solutions is preparing an application for EPA approval of Nubo Sphere as an advanced methane detection technology, both as a continuous monitoring solution and for periodic screenings. This article focuses on Nubo Sphere’s use for periodic screenings in line with EPA regulations.

There are key differences between approval for continuous monitoring and periodic screening. To learn more about Nubo Sphere’s use for continuous monitoring, see this article.

Future approval of Nubo Sphere for periodic screenings would make the solution usable in place of, or alongside, traditional AVO, OGI and Method 21 surveys, and subject to the same standards for surveying and reporting.

In this capacity, Nubo Sphere offers several advantages over traditional periodic screening technologies. Nubo Sphere is readily available for any periodic screening detection threshold, granting operators unparallelled flexibility in monitoring regimes that fit their operations. Furthermore, insights delivered continuously by Nubo Sphere will allow operators to prepare for surveys, thus reducing the need for follow-ups. Finally, this will help operators to continuously monitor their sites for other large release events.

This article explores these advantages. It includes guidance on the latest EPA regulations found in NSPS OOOOb and GHGRP Subpart W with an eye to efficiently reducing emissions through periodic screenings. Operators interested in upcoming regulations of sources built, modified, or reconstructed before December 6, 2022, can expect similar standards to those found in NSPS OOOOb, but only after state laws have been created in line with the EPA’s EG OOOOc. For more information on EG OOOOc or any part of the latest raft of EPA regulations on methane emissions from the energy sector, read this article.

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