The Challenge of Harsh Environments
Gas emissions detection in harsh environments is one of the most difficult challenges in industrial safety and environmental compliance—especially in oil and gas operations. Sites are often exposed to extreme temperature changes, intense humidity, powerful winds, sand, dust, and corrosive atmospheres. These conditions not only make it more likely for gas leaks to occur but also compromise the performance of conventional gas detection technologies.
In sectors like upstream oil and gas, petrochemicals, and hydrogen infrastructure, operations span deserts, offshore platforms, and remote basins—all characterized by:
- Extreme temperatures (ranging from subzero cold to sweltering heat)
- Condensing environments with 100% relative humidity
- Dust, salt spray, and corrosive chemicals
- Inaccessible locations requiring remote monitoring
- Hazardous zones where gas detection must be intrinsically safe
Choosing the Right Emissions Detection Technology for Harsh Environments
Selecting the right emissions detection technology is critical—especially in environments characterized by extreme temperatures, high humidity, corrosive chemicals, and limited accessibility. When evaluating technologies for use in these harsh conditions, key factors to consider include:
- Target gases
- Environmental suitability/compensation –temperature range, humidity, wind, salt, sand, and other variable conditions that might impact
- Monitoring type – continuous vs. intermittent
- Coverage – area of coverage and required proximity to potential leak sources
- Deployment – ease of installation and scalability
- Reliability – Uptime of equipment and mean time to failure
- Maintenance & operation requirements – frequency and complexity of service
- Sensitivity – minimum detection thresholds
- Quantification capabilities – ability to measure leak size and concentration
Comparing Emissions Detection Technologies for Harsh Environments
Overview Table
| MPS™ Wireless Endpoints | OGI | Satellite | Drone/UAV | Mobile/Ground | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Target Gases | Excellent | Good | Poor | Good | Fair |
| Environmental Suitability | Excellent | Poor | Fair | Fair | Fair |
| Monitoring Type | Excellent | Mixed | Poor | Poor | Poor |
| Coverage | Good | Good | Excellent | Good | Fair |
| Deployment | Excellent | Good | Excellent | Good | Good |
| Reliability | Excellent | Fair | Excellent | Fair | Good |
| Maintenance & Operation | Excellent | Poor | Excellent | Fair | Fair |
| Sensitivity | Good | Fair | Poor | Excellent | Excellent |
| Quantification Capability | Good | Poor | Poor | Good | Good |
MPS™ Wireless Endpoints
Best suited for continuous, real-time monitoring in harsh environments; detects methane, hydrogen, and hydrocarbons C₁–C₁₂
Pros
- Target gases: Detects CH₄ and H₂, and hydrocarbons (C₁–C₁₂)
- Monitoring type: Continuous, real-time
- Environmental suitability: Wide operating range (–40°C to 75°C, 100% RH); corrosion, dust, and moisture resistant
- Deployment: Fast, wireless installation on existing infrastructure
- Reliability: IP65+ environmental sealing; self-testing features
- Maintenance: 15-year sensor life, 5-year battery; no required field calibration
- Quantification: Quantifies CH₄ and H₂
- Sensitivity: Detection range from 50 to 1M ppm
- Coverage: Intrinsically safe for hazardous zones—can be mounted close to leak sources to better capture intermittent leaks and low false positives
Cons
- Coverage: Localized detection; full site coverage requires strategic placement
- Deployment: Requires planning for sensor network density
Optical Gas Imaging (OGI) Cameras Using Infrared (IR) Sensor Technology
Used primarily for visual identification of hydrocarbon leaks; not suitable for hydrogen
Pros
- Target gases: Detects a wide range of hydrocarbons (C₁–C₁₂)
- Coverage: Highly directional; good for pinpointing leak locations
- Deployment: Portable for vehicle-mounted use or fixed installations available
- Monitoring type: Continuous (fixed installations)
Cons
- Target gases: Cannot detect hydrogen
- Monitoring type: Intermittent (portable installations)
- Environmental suitability: Weather-dependent; reduced effectiveness in fog, rain, or poor thermal contrast. Limited temperature range of -20°C – 50°C. Some cameras do not detect in low light or at night.
- Quantification: Standard OGI is qualitative. The camera doesn’t directly measure concentration or flow – it just shows a plume image. Operators may judge relative size by plume thickness or extent, but this is subjective.
- Reliability: Portable OGI is vulnerable to mirror corrosion, calibration drift, and environmental wear; Fixed OGI systems have better protection but still need routine servicing.
- Maintenance: Requires trained operators; subject to calibration drift
- Sensitivity: May miss small or slow leaks depending on environmental contrast
Satellite Monitoring
Scalable global coverage for large methane leaks; limited gas scope and spatial resolution
Pros
- Monitoring type: Intermittent, global-scale observations
- Deployment: No site infrastructure required
- Coverage: Ideal for identifying super-emitters or prioritizing regions for inspection
- Reliability: No site hardware, so no operator responsibility; depends on satellite health, generally high uptime but limited to scheduled passes.
- Maintenance: No end-user maintenance
Cons
- Target gases: Only detects methane; no hydrogen or VOC detection
- Sensitivity: High detection thresholds (>100 kg/h common)
- Quantification: Estimates are broad and not site-specific
- Environmental suitability: Affected by clouds, aerosols, and surface reflectivity
- Monitoring type: Not real-time; passes may be daily or weekly.
- Coverage: Poor spatial resolution; not suitable for locating leak points
Drone/UAV-Based Detection
Ideal for targeted inspections in remote or dangerous areas; limited by flight time and conditions
Pros
- Coverage: Accesses difficult or elevated areas
- Target gases: Can detect CH₄ or other gases depending on sensor payload
- Quantification: Possible with proper instrumentation and wind modeling
- Deployment: On-demand use; no permanent infrastructureSensitivity: High-resolution sensors can detect small leaks at close range
Cons
- Monitoring type: Intermittent; requires scheduled flights
- Maintenance: Needs trained pilots and drone upkeep
- Environmental suitability: Wind, rain, and extreme temperatures limit usability
- Battery life/flight time: Limits area that can be covered in one flight
- Reliability: Flight time limits uptime; hardware prone to weather impacts; requires battery swaps, maintenance, and operator availability.
Mobile Ground Surveys (Vehicle-Based)
High sensitivity for methane; ideal for road-accessible inspections but limited coverage
Pros
- Target gases: Excellent methane detection
- Quantification: Real-time data with GPS and wind integration
- Sensitivity: Very high—detects small leaks with precision instruments
- Deployment: Efficient for accessible routes and recurring inspections
- Reliability: Instruments are highly reliable during surveys but uptime depends on human operation; not continuous, so “uptime” is linked to survey schedule rather than device failure.
Cons
- Accessibility: Requires accessible routes for vehicles
- Monitoring type: Intermittent and requires trained operators
- Coverage: Limited to areas with road or vehicle access
- Target gases: Typically methane only; not used for hydrogen
- Environmental suitability: Weather and terrain can affect usability
- Maintenance: Requires calibration and vehicle-mounted equipment upkeep
MethaneTrack™ and EmissionsTrack™: Engineered for Harsh Environments
NevadaNano’s fixed continuous monitoring endpoints as part of our MethaneTrack™ and EmissionsTrack™ systems are engineered specifically for the conditions that disable other technologies:
- Unmatched operating range: -40°C to 75°C, with up to 100% relative humidity (including condensing environments)
- Built-in environmental compensation: Automatically adjusts for temperature, humidity, and pressure to reduce false positives
- Immune to saturation & poisoning: Able to work in multi-gas environments without harm to sensor performance
- 15-year sensor life & 5-year battery life: Ideal for remote deployments without regular service
- Built-In Self-Test (BIST): Continuously verifies sensor health and performance
Certified Safe for Hazardous Zones
MethaneTrack™ and EmissionsTrack™ endpoints are certified as Intrinsically Safe for deployment in hazardous areas where explosive gases may be present:
Class 1, Div. 1 and Zone 0
Certified by FM, CSA, IECEx, ATEX
IP65+ environmental sealing – This enables safe installation directly at the source of potential leaks—inside the hazardous zone, not tens of meters away like many legacy systems.
Target Gases, Sensitivity, and Quantification
MethaneTrack™ detects all hydrocarbons from C1 to C12 and quantifies methane (CH₄).
EmissionsTrack™ detects all hydrocarbons and quantifies both methane (CH₄) and hydrogen (H₂)—making it a critical solution as hydrogen becomes a larger part of the energy mix.
Highly accurate detection powered by The MPS™
Detection range from 50 to 1M ppm with near-zero false positives.
Scalability and Ease of Deployment
Deployment in harsh and remote locations requires a system that’s fast, safe, and efficient to install:
Installs in minutes on existing infrastructure—no wiring required
A single technician can deploy multiple sites per day
No required field calibration and remote monitoring reduces the need for site visits
Suitable for continuous monitoring in places where LDAR surveys are difficult or unsafe
Proven at Scale
NevadaNano’s fixed continuous monitoring endpoints are not just field-tested—they’re field-proven:
Hundreds upstream oil and gas sites across the Permian Basin rely on MethaneTrack™ for 24/7 emissions monitoring
Over 11,000 endpoints are currently being deployed offshore in one of the industry’s largest continuous monitoring rollouts
These real-world deployments demonstrate the technology’s scalability, resilience, and impact—not only improving operational safety and regulatory compliance but also advancing climate goals through proactive emissions reduction.
NevadaNano’s emissions monitoring solutions are designed to thrive in the very environments that challenge other systems. When your operations demand rugged, precise, and scalable detection—MethaneTrack™ and EmissionsTrack™ deliver.
Independent Test Results: MethaneTrack™ Outperforms Traditional Monitoring Systems
Recent independent testing through the NGIF Emissions Testing Centre (ETC) Program, operated by Tourmaline Oil Corp in partnership with 360 Engineering & Environmental, confirmed that MethaneTrack™ delivers superior emissions detection performance.