American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2016 - 38

FIGURE 3
Example Equipment Details in GHG Reporting Software

years.
The technology relies on cutting-edge
software to automate three distinct preparation stages of a workflow process to
allow validated and consistent reporting.
One producer noted that once the stages
were completed, manpower subsequently
could be reduced by 80 percent.
The first phase-data collection-identifies all GHG data-providing sources
across the producing asset. It then assures
that the data from these sources can be
consolidated into a central database as a
common model. This automated approach
increases reporting efficiency and confidence for report certification.
The second phase-data integration-
selects relevant parameters and arranges
them structurally to perform on a common
platform. This stage lays the foundation
for comprehensive quality assurance.
Data integration is a multistep phase.
In this phase, the data spheres needing

HONG
QIN

Hong Qin is project manager and
senior principal consultant at Wood
Group Mustang. She has 15 years of
experience in the software and energy
industry, and her current work focuses
on developing advanced greenhouse
gas solutions. Qin holds a B.S. in civil
engineering from Harbin Institute of
Technology and a master's in industrial
engineering from the University of Houston. She is a Project Management Institute-certified project management
professional.
38 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

integration are determined-either direct
emission calculation inputs or indirect
data-and a common identifier allows data
integration from all different systems.
Within this phase, a step recognizes relationships between emission sources according to functions and interrelatedness
so the data points can be mapped structurally in either a hierarchical or nonhierarchical fashion.
For example, when mapped by each
well, equipment such as pumps, engines
and compressors can be shown hierarchically according to function, or in a
horizontal relationship, such as between
engine-driven compressors and natural
gas-fired engines (Figure 3 provides an
example of equipment details listed in
the GHG reporting software). The data
then can be integrated and organized by
individual well according to its annual
production, equipment or activity.
The third phase, QA/QC, addresses the

PAUL
GLAVES

Paul Glaves is a senior consultant
at Wood Group Mustang. With 35
years of experience in the energy, software and emissions industries, he has
served as technical lead for complying
with the EPA's GHG regulations, including Subparts W and C. Glaves
has served on the Program Committee
for the Gas Processors Association's
annual convention for more than a
decade. He holds a B.S. and an M.S.
in chemical engineering from Rice
University.

EPA's CFR Part 98.4, which mandates that
a company's reporting must be true, accurate
and complete. This mandate can make the
reporting task daunting when there are
large geographic assets with multiple disparate data systems. In this situation, accuracy relies heavily on the software's
ability to integrate the previous phases
plus perform data analyses and validation.
At the conclusion of these phases of
data collection, data integration and QA/QC,
environmental technicians should have the
ability to generate a validated dataset for
calculating GHG emissions. Time savings
at that point are enormous. A large natural
gas producer reported that before utilizing
the cutting-edge software package, the
process required six man-weeks to complete. The work effort has since been reduced to fewer than two man-hours with
a higher degree of accuracy.
At the final process stage, previously
obtained data output is used in the emission
calculation and then submitted to the EPA.
The central warehoused records provide a
transparent, historical record that can be
used to retrieve emissions data, and the
calculations can be used in reporting.
Adding Analytics Capabilities
The succeeding generation in software
progression for upstream GHG compliance
will evolve to the next level of proficiency
in data management by incorporating realtime analytics capabilities to serve the additional purpose of assessing operations.
This methodology, which is being used
downstream in refining and industrial applications, can provide information on the
operational performance of specific equip-

JONATHAN
CHEN

Jonathan Chen is a senior consulting
technical professional at Wood Group
Mustang. With 12 years of experience
in the software development and energy
industries, his recent work focuses on
developing advanced GHG solutions.
Chen holds a B.S. in biological engineering from South China University
of Technology, a master's in computer
engineering from Syracuse University,
and a master's in computer science
from the University of Houston.

American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2016

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