{"id":2099,"date":"2023-10-11T01:54:22","date_gmt":"2023-10-11T07:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spllabs.com\/?p=2099"},"modified":"2024-01-15T15:43:55","modified_gmt":"2024-01-15T21:43:55","slug":"mastering-epa-114-audits-analytical-integrity-for-oil-and-gas-compliance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spllabs.com\/blogs\/mastering-epa-114-audits-analytical-integrity-for-oil-and-gas-compliance\/","title":{"rendered":"MASTERING EPA 114 AUDITS: ANALYTICAL INTEGRITY FOR OIL AND GAS COMPLIANCE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Fugitive emissions from the oil and gas industry continue to be the target of local, state, and federal rule making policies. Emissions, primarily in the form of methane, pose a credibility risk to the industry as adversaries use this topic to vilify the industry and its role in creating a better energy future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One action the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stepped up in recent years to ensure compliance with the Clean Air Act (CAA) are 114 inquiries. EPA 114 inquiries are the environmental equivalent of an IRS audit that allow the EPA broad oversight over information it deems relevant for determining compliance with the CAA (among other possible uses). The information from a 114 request can then be used in an enforcement action, disclosure to non-governmental organizations (NGOs), plaintiff\u2019s attorneys, state and local agencies, and industry competitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As part of an EPA 114 request, producers often find themselves having to conduct large-scale sampling and analysis projects to evaluate their site-specific emissions factors for a given geography. These projects require precision documentation and logistics to be completed in a timely manner and in accordance with the EPA\u2019s requirement. Luckily, SPL has worked on countless 114 inquiries for producers across the United States and has developed SOP\u2019s to seamlessly execute sampling and analysis projects related to EPA 114 inquiries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A critical component of the sampling and analysis work is ensuring the analytical integrity of the compositional anlaysis of the pressurized hydrocarbon liquids. While a bubble point determination was once thought to be the primary indicator of analytical integrity, this quality check is now just a component of a suite of quality checks laboratories and producers should use to evaluate analytical integrity of the sample. Those quality checks include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>SAMPLE COLLECTION POINT \u2013 IDEALLY, A PRESSURIZED HYDROCARBON LIQUID IS COLLECTED FROM A SAMPLE PORT BETWEEN THE VESSEL AND DUMP VALUE. A SIGHT GLASS SHOULD ONLY BE USED WHEN NO OTHER ADEQUATE SAMPLE PORT IS AVAILABLE.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SAMPLE COLLECTION TIME \u2013 PRESSURIZED HYDROCARBON LIQUID SAMPLES SHOULD BE COLLECTED SLOWLY TO ENSURE THE SAMPLE IS NOT ACCIDENTALLY FLASHED DURING THE PROCESS. SAMPLE COLLECTION RATES SHOULD BE DOCUMENTED, AND NO GREATER THAN 60ML\/MIN.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SAMPLE COLLECTION CONTAINER \u2013 CONSTANT PRESSURE, OR \u201cFLOATING PISTON,\u201d CYLINDERS SHOULD BE USED FOR SAMPLES BEING COLLECTED FOR EMISSIONS ESTIMATION PURPOSES. IF USING A CONSTANT VOLUME OR \u201cWATER DRAW\u201d CYLINDER, THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR METHANE AND CO<sub>2<\/sub>&nbsp;TO DISSOLVE ACROSS THE OIL-WATER INTERFACE THUS BIASING THE GAS TO OIL VALUE.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>VESSEL CYCLING \u2013 SAMPLES SHOULD BE COLLECTED SOON AFTER THE VESSEL DUMPS TO ENSURE FRESH PRODUCT IN THE PIPING AT THE TIME OF COLLECTION.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE MEASUREMENT \u2013 DEPENDING ON WHERE THE MEASUREMENT IS TAKEN, PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE FROM THE FIELD CAN BE A SOURCE OF ERROR TO THE SAMPLE, PARTICULARLY WHEN USED IN BUBBLE POINT ANALYSIS. IDEALLY, MEASUREMENTS ARE TAKEN FROM THE VESSEL ITSELF OR CALIBRATED EQUIPMENT AT THE SAMPLE PORT.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>To learn more about SPL\u2019s services for EPA 114 audits contact info@spl-inc.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-1 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large has-custom-border\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-design-2023-11-06T105339.939-1024x1024.png\" alt=\"Andrew Parker, SPL\" class=\"wp-image-543\" style=\"border-width:1px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-design-2023-11-06T105339.939-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-design-2023-11-06T105339.939-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-design-2023-11-06T105339.939-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-design-2023-11-06T105339.939-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-design-2023-11-06T105339.939-1536x1536.png 1536w, https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-design-2023-11-06T105339.939-2000x2000.png 2000w, https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-design-2023-11-06T105339.939-1000x1000.png 1000w, https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-design-2023-11-06T105339.939-280x280.png 280w, https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-design-2023-11-06T105339.939-1800x1800.png 1800w, https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-design-2023-11-06T105339.939-560x560.png 560w, https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-design-2023-11-06T105339.939-600x600.png 600w, https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-design-2023-11-06T105339.939-800x800.png 800w, https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-design-2023-11-06T105339.939.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"border-width:1px;flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Andrew Parker, Ph,D.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>President of Laboratories<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Andrew Parker is a dynamic leader with a strong commitment to environmental sustainability in the energy industry. Currently serving as President of Laboratories at SPL, Andrew has served in a variety of leadership roles for SPL over the last 9 years. Andrew\u2019s journey began at the University of Colorado in Boulder earning degrees in Geology and Atmospheric Science and later completing his Ph.D. at Texas A&amp;M University.&nbsp; Andrew\u2019s dedication to sustainability extends beyond his career. In his downtime, he enjoys biking , skiing and golfing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fugitive emissions from the oil and gas industry continue to be the target of local, state, and federal rule making policies. Emissions, primarily in the form of methane, pose a credibility risk to the industry as adversaries use this topic to vilify the industry and its role in creating a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2089,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2099"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2099"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2100,"href":"https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2099\/revisions\/2100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spllabs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}