Infrared technology helping Lyondell to detect emissions

Although use of the IR cameras is not yet required by the US Environmental Protection Agency or other industry environmental agencies, Lyondell began using the technology in 2005. Initial results from their use in ground and aerial surveys at the Channelview and La Porte, Texas, plants and also at the plants in Morris and Tuscola,Illinois, have been very promising, the company said.

The IR camera is a relatively light and compact handheld camera, similar in appearance to a video camera and weighing less than five pounds. The camera detects infrared energy of the leaking chemical – heat – and converts it into an electronic signal that produces a thermal image on a video monitor. The heat sensed by an infrared camera can be very precisely measured, allowing the operator to monitor thermal differences between the leaking and non-leaking components.

"The use of IR cameras has enabled us to pin point the exact location of leaks that might have remained hidden using traditional fugitive monitoring techniques," said Lyondell. "In only minutes, an operator can aim, pan and zoom as far as several hundred feet away from an area and check for leaks without leaving his feet. Traditional methods for identifying fugitive emissions required placement of an instrument probe directly on the component, a challenge for components high in a pipe rack."

Another advantage is the detection of particularly elusive emissions that leak from corrosion beneath insulation. These leaks have historically been a challenge and many times impossible to pin point because the vapors often exit at points a considerable distance from the source point.

The technology of the IR camera helps identify and therefore allows us to repair sources of fugitive emission leaks a lot more efficiently, benefiting both the environment and industry, according to Lyondell. IR cameras, it said, can now very easily detect the source of these leaks by simply following the trail of the hydrocarbon plume.