Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38025957›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental science & technology letters2023

Fence-Line Spectroscopic Measurements Suggest Carry-Over of Salt-Laden Aerosols into Flare Systems Is Common.

Zachary R Milani, Bradley M Conrad, Cameron S Roth, Matthew R Johnson

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In one paragraph

Article in Environmental science & technology letters, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Zachary R MilaniEnergy and Emissions Research Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1S 5B6.
Bradley M ConradEnergy and Emissions Research Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1S 5B6.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3678-7434
Cameron S RothEnergy and Emissions Research Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1S 5B6.
Matthew R JohnsonEnergy and Emissions Research Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1S 5B6.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3637-9919

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Pollutant emissions from gas flares in the upstream oil and gas (UOG) industry can be exacerbated by aerosols of coproduced liquid hydrocarbons and formation water that survive separation and enter the flare. Of noteworthy concern is the potential impact of salt-laden aerosols, since the associated chlorine may adversely affect combustion and emissions. Here, we use a novel approach to remotely detect carry-over of salt-laden aerosols into field-operational flares via flame emission spectroscopy targeting two of the most abundant species in produced water samples, sodium and potassium. Ninety-five UOG flares were examined during field campaigns in the Bakken (U.S.A. and Canada) and Amazon (Ecuador) basins. For the first time, carry-over of salt species into flares is definitively detected and further found to be concerningly common, with 74% of studied flares having detectable sodium and/or potassium signatures. Additional analysis reveals that carry-over strongly correlates with reported flared gas volume (positive) and well age (negative), but carry-over was also observed in flares linked to older wells and those flaring relatively little gas. Given the scale of global UOG flaring and the risk of salt-laden aerosols affecting emissions, these findings emphasize the need to review separation standards and re-evaluate pollutant emissions from flares experiencing carry-over.

Identifiers

PMID38025957
PMCPMC10653271

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.