Noema - Flare Monitoring Applications
As the oil & gas industry drives toward carbon neutrality, the ability to not only observe but characterize and quantify your operations is essential. The Flare Monitor application from Noema assesses flare size, black smoke output, smoke opacity, and flare color at oil & gas sites in compliance with EPA regulations. The app provides a real-time pixel count for the areas of flare and smoke. Based on site-specific parameters, this calculates to an area for both flare and smoke for the purpose of quantification. To comply with regulations, the Flare Monitor application automates the real-time monitoring process and generates analytics. The analytics data is sent to the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system or Video Management System (VMS), providing complete integration with current monitoring processes.
The Problem
Oil and gas companies are required by EPA to completely burn flares rather than releasing the methane and other gases into the environment.
As a result, oil and gas sites must comply with method 9 and 22 EPA regulations. Manually monitoring gas flares results in excessive fines because the fines are assessed based on inspection intervals, rather than precise time measurements and visual data.
Noema’s Flare Monitoring application automatically monitors gas flares for outages, while also quantifying the fire and smoke pixel-area in full compliance with EPA methods 9 and 22. Operators get useful, real-time data and alarms to help reduce environmental impacts and regulatory costs.
Noema’s Flare Monitoring application monitors how well the flare is burning and if it is giving off smoke. Oil flares continually vary in how well they burn based on several factors, including the gas mix, flares don’t burn consistently. Current standards allow the flare to “burn dirty” (shown by the smoke by product) for a short period of time, but if it is burning consistently dirty or is smoking, then the operators need to be notified so that the problem can be resolved.
The application generates analytics to help monitor the flare and smoke. The analytics data is sent to the Video Management System (VMS) and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. The application is designed for the SCADA to allow for live monitoring and stores the data for future analysis. Additionally, the SCADA can action on trigger events sent by the app if a specific user-specified data point or combination of parameters is exceeded.
- Alarm & timestamp for flare outs
- EPA standards compliance
- Flare detection in all light & weather conditions
- Many camera types are supported
- Works with little internet bandwidth
- Easy configuration & use
- VMS and SCADA integration
Automated, 24/7 monitoring
Noema’s Flare Monitoring Application runs 24/7 and detects outages with more consistency than a human operator. Having a human operator monitor feeds is costly and prone to error, as continuous monitoring is nearly impossible. Real-time alerts minimize response times and regulatory costs for operators.
Computing at the Edge
Noema’s Flare Monitoring application operates at the edge, meaning the algorithm runs entirely on the camera, allowing you to monitor multiple flares, on a single camera, with no additional hardware or network connectivity.
Remote Installation & Configuration
Noema’s computer vision applications are easy to install. Mount a new camera or equip an existing one, and configure the application remotely over the internet. No additional on-site hardware or measurements are required.
Data and Integrations
App integration using Local API
- Timestamp
- Original & augmented (fire, smoke, pixel count)
- Measurement data
On-demand integration with custom MessageBroker and DataTrolley information system performed by Noema.