US 11,854,366 B1
Leak monitoring systems and methods of utilizing same
Eben Daniel Thoma, Cary, NC (US); Deborah Lynn Preschler, Corpus Christi, TX (US); Roger John Hilarides, Wichita, KS (US); Debra Jean Cartwright, Sandia, TX (US); Michael Stephen Clausewitz, Corpus Christi, TX (US); Barry William Kelley, Edina, MN (US); David Randall Massner, Corpus Christi, TX (US); Wenfeng Peng, North Aurora, IL (US); and Marko Frank Spiegel, Lafox, IL (US)
Filed by United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC (US); Flint Hills Resources Corpus Christi, LLC, Corpus Christi, TX (US); and Molex, LLC, Lisle, IL (US)
Filed on Feb. 13, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/790,712.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/806,596, filed on Feb. 15, 2019.
Int. Cl. G08B 21/12 (2006.01); G01M 3/04 (2006.01); H04Q 9/00 (2006.01); G01W 1/02 (2006.01)
CPC G08B 21/12 (2013.01) [G01M 3/04 (2013.01); G01W 1/02 (2013.01); H04Q 9/00 (2013.01); H04Q 2209/40 (2013.01); H04Q 2209/823 (2013.01)] 24 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A volatile organic compounds (VOC) leak monitoring system with improved prediction accuracy, the system comprising:
a1. a first monitoring system comprising a plurality of fixed-point sensors configured to measure a first quantified level of a first detection present of gas created by a VOC leak in a plant comprising an outdoor area;
a2. a second monitoring system comprising a plurality of mobile sensors configured to measure a second quantified level of a second detection present of the gas created by the VOC leak in the plant comprising the outdoor area, wherein the plurality of mobile sensors and the plurality of fixed-point sensors overlap in coverage;
b. a computer server comprising informetrics and a dashboard software platform, wherein the first monitoring system at a first location in the plant and the second monitoring system at a second location in the plant are configured to transport information about the measuring of the first and the second quantified levels of the first and the second detections of the gas from the VOC leak to the computer server, and wherein the computer server is configured to:
i. analyze together the information provided by the first monitoring system and the second monitoring system to identify, with the improved prediction accuracy, a predicted pin-point location of the gas from the VOC leak in the plant that is a third location in the overlap in the coverage but different from the first location and different from the second location;
ii. identify the predicted pin-point location of the gas from the VOC leak with the improved prediction accuracy by analyzing the informetrics comprising at least meteorological data; and
iii. issue an alert comprising the first and the second quantified levels of the first and the second detections and the predicted pin-point location of the gas from the VOC leak; and
c. a protocol to determine and dispatch manually operated equipment to the predicted pin-point location of the gas from the VOC leak based on the alert and to investigate an emissions event in a proximity of the predicted pin-point location, wherein the second monitoring system does not include the manually operated equipment.