HARC deployed a mobile laboratory equipped with a Geographical Positioning System (GPS) and a Proton Transfer Reaction-Mass Spectrometer (PTR-MS) to perform real time measurements of ambient concentrations of toxic volatile organic compounds in the vicinity of oil and gas sites located on a large private property in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas.
Modeling of Ozone Impacts of Oil and Gas Activities in the Uinta Basin
The phenomenon of wintertime smog at rural oil and gas sites in the Uinta Basin of Utah was the subject of the Uinta Basin Ozone Study (UBOS). With funding from the Western Energy Alliance, Dr. Eduardo (Jay) Olaguer of HARC conducted a modeling study of a 2013 ozone episode using the HARC microscale air quality model and a variety of observational measurements made at the Horsepool site (see accompanying photo) during the UBOS campaign. The conclusions drawn from the modeling study were as follows:
- Primary formaldehyde (HCHO) from oil and gas facilities and secondary nitrous acid (HONO) from snow surfaces may both play an important role in the cold ozone phenomenon in the Uinta Basin.
- Primary HCHO emissions in the Uinta Basin may be equivalent to the HCHO emissions of a large refinery.
- The flux of HONO from snow surfaces to air may be around 4.56 × 10-10 gs-1m-2.
Team Members
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Research Scientist, PMP
Primary Researcher
Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Dr. Mustapha Beydoun is the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC).