GAS DETECTION New gas detection tool for monitoring volcanic activity


Following the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano in La Palma in 2021, the National Geographic Institute has strengthened its system for monitoring volcanic activity on the island with a new gas detection tool.


The FLIR G343 OGI camera, supplied by Apliter Termografía, can identify carbon dioxide emissions in real time with high accuracy, improving risk assessment capabilities in areas affected by volcanic activity.


Volcanic activity in La Palma has created a complex situation for environmental surveillance and safety. Although the eruptive phase of the Cumbre Vieja volcano finished at the end of 2021, the emission of gases, such as CO₂, remains a challenge. Since it is a colourless and odourless gas, it can build up in areas that are difficult to access. This creates risks for both the population and the research teams working on the island. The accumulation of CO₂ in low or poorly- ventilated areas displaces oxygen from the air. This can cause dizziness, shortness of breath, disorientation and even loss of consciousness. In volcanic environments, where gas is concentrated in depressions in the ground or enclosed spaces, the risk is even higher.


In La Palma, the lack of real-time sensors made it difficult to detect these dangerous areas, which increased the risk of accidental exposure. To improve the surveillance and monitoring of these emissions, IGN needed a solution, such as an OGI


The first high-performance flame detector is first in the industry with Bluetooth® connectivity


Having the ability to quickly distinguish between a fire and a false alarm not only helps to keep workers safe on the job but can also protect against costly facility shutdowns. As the industry’s first optical flame detector with Bluetooth®


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This connectivity allows users to wirelessly link to the flame detector for configuration and to perform diagnostic tests, allowing for faster setup, easier detector status checks, and quicker access to event logs. Additionally, the FL5000 Flame Detector features communications capabilities for automatic integration with plant processes and safety systems, making it easy to help further enhance a facility’s overall safety operations.


Designed for demanding industries including chemical and oil/gas production, refineries, and storage, the unique FL5000 Flame Detector offers users a wide array of advanced safety features and solutions, including multiple infrared (IR) detectors and an advanced flame detection algorithm that leverages the intelligence of three artificial neural networks (ANN) that process signals to determine potential hazards.


The FL5000 can distinguish between dangerous real flames and common false alarm sources, such as lightning, sunlight reflection, and other radiation sources, to help protect facilities while also avoiding false alarms and unnecessary process or plant shutdowns.


With Factory Mutual (FM) performance verification for 22 of the most common fuel types used in the petrochemical and other process industries and the ability to detect fires up to 310 feet (95 meters) away, this device offers superb performance in the most demanding industrial locations.


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thermal imaging camera, that would provide accurate data immediately and enable rapid action.


To address this challenge, Apliter Termografía supplied the FLIR G343, a specialised gas detection device using Optical Gas Imaging. Unlike traditional methods, which require sample collection and laboratory analysis, this thermal imaging camera can detect gases directly in the field. It provides real-time data that optimises monitoring and reduces exposure to risk areas.


Carmen López, the Deputy Director General of Surveillance, Alerts and Geophysical Studies at the National Geophysical Observatory - IGN, highlighted the importance of this new tool, stating: “No volcano observatory has a volcano surveillance tool as powerful as this camera.”


Apliter Termografía’s commercial director travelled in person to La Palma to deliver the FLIR G343 and demonstrate how it works. During the field tests, IGN researchers saw first-hand how the device can identify areas with a build-up of CO₂, optimise their everyday tasks and improve safety in post-eruption monitoring.


By adopting the FLIR G343, IGN has managed to optimise its ability to respond to post-eruption activity in La Palma. The thermal imaging gas detection camera has not only enhanced researchers’ safety, but also aids real-time decision-making and collection of essential data for scientific studies on the evolution of the phenomenon and its long-term implications.


This success story shows how a combination of advanced technology and specialised knowledge can make a big difference in natural risk management. The collaboration between Apliter Termografía and FLIR reaffirms their commitment to safety, research and development of innovative solutions for high-risk environments.


Following the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano in La Palma in 2021, the National Geographic Institute has strengthened its system for monitoring volcanic activity on the island with a new gas detection tool.


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HOW FUGITIVE HYDROGEN EMISSIONS COULD ACT AS A GREENHOUSE GAS TALKING POINT


As a clean energy carrier, hydrogen offers a number of possibilities for decarbonisation in various sectors, but unintended leaks during production, storage, or transport pose a lesser-known environmental challenge. Prone to leakage due to its small molecular size and high diffusivity, this atmospheric hydrogen can keep methane in the atmosphere for longer by reacting with compounds that typically break methane down, producing water vapor (a greenhouse gas) in the process.


In 2023, a group of researchers used ‘a model ensemble of five global atmospheric chemistry models to estimate the 100- year time-horizon Global Warming Potential (GWP100) of hydrogen’, estimating ‘a hydrogen GWP100 of 11.6 ± 2.8 (one standard deviation).’1


14.4 times more heat than CO2


To translate: hydrogen could trap between 8.8 and over 100 years.


The molecular size of hydrogen makes it exceptionally leaky. Its small diameter allows it to escape through tiny imperfections in pipes, valves, and storage tanks, even under high-quality containment systems. One study estimated that hydrogen’s ‘leakage rates are likely to range from 1 to 10%’, which is somewhat higher than some estimates for fugitive emissions of methane – a persistent concern for regulators – to be about 2.3% (in the US, at least).2 3


Transporting hydrogen often involves cryogenic cooling to liquefy it, as this significantly reduces its volume. However, maintaining hydrogen at cryogenic temperatures (−252.8°C) is energy-intensive and still prone to boil-off losses, where hydrogen escapes as gas due to warming. Hydrogen’s tendency to diffuse through materials, including metals, adds another layer of complexity. Over time, hydrogen can cause embrittlement of pipelines and storage vessels, further increasing the risk of leaks.


Hydrogen itself is not a direct greenhouse gas but it indirectly exacerbates warming by interfering with the atmospheric processes that regulate methane, a much more potent greenhouse gas. Methane naturally breaks down in the atmosphere through reactions with hydroxyl radicals (OH). When hydrogen is emitted, it competes with methane for these radicals, effectively prolonging methane’s atmospheric lifetime. One study explains that ‘Hydrogen perturbs methane because it reacts with and thereby reduces the concentration of OH [hydroxyl radicals], methane’s dominant sink’ and that this influence on ‘the methane term dominat[es] the impact’ of hydrogen.4


However, the inverse is true, too: if methane emissions were to decrease, hydrogen would contribute far less to global warming.


Hence, one study suggest that: ‘The extent to which future changes in hydrogen might affect atmospheric composition and climate will depend upon [...] emissions reduction in species currently emitted [...] including methane’.5


When hydrogen reacts with hydroxyl radicals, it produces water vapor which can contribute to the formation of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) that provide surfaces for chemical reactions that release active chlorine compounds capable of depleting ozone. Further, hydrogen reduces the availability of compounds that help maintain the balance of ozone production and destruction. By altering this balance, hydrogen emissions can indirectly contribute to stratospheric ozone depletion, particularly in polar regions.


The reactive hydrogen species generated by fugitive emissions can participate in catalytic cycles that destroy ozone.


The increase in stratospheric water vapor amplifies these effects, compounding the challenges associated with the recovery of the ozone layer. When hydrogen reacts with hydroxyl radicals in the atmosphere, it forms water vapor as a byproduct.


Water vapor is the most abundant greenhouse gas, responsible for trapping heat and amplifying warming in the atmosphere – and when it condenses, it releases latent heat absorbed during evaporation.


Importantly, increased evaporation from warmer oceans increases atmospheric concentrations of water vapor in accordance with the Clausius-Clapeyron relation (warmer air holds greater quantities of water vapor), producing a feedback loop.


This isn’t the end of it, however. Eventual condensation of water vapor itself warms the atmosphere, which means that water vapor both traps heat as a gas and releases heat when it condenses, causing further evaporation, and so on. This dual role of water vapor highlights its unique contribution to amplifying climate warming. 1


A multi-model assessment of the Global Warming Potential of hydrogen. Sand et al. Communications Earth & Environment.2023.


2


Climate benefit of a future hydrogen economy. Hauglustaine et al. Communications Earth & Environment. 2022.


3


Assessment of methane emissions from the U.S. oil and gas supply chain. Alvarez et al. Science. 2018.


4 On the chemistry of the global warming potential of hydrogen. Chen et


al. Frontiers in Energy Research. 2024. 5


Atmospheric composition and climate impacts of a future hydrogen economy. Warwick et al. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 2023.


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