Case Study: Tank Pressure Release Detection Without Pressure Instrumentation
Background
Storage tanks are a common source of intermittent methane emissions at upstream oil and gas facilities. Pressure release events can occur when vapour generation or liquid loading causes tank pressure to exceed normal operating conditions, resulting in venting through pressure-relief devices or thief hatches. These events may be short-lived, difficult to observe during periodic inspections, and challenging to quantify when tanks are not equipped with dedicated pressure, temperature, or vent-flow instrumentation.
At many multi-tank batteries, however, existing SCADA systems already collect operational data from connected equipment, including separator pressure, gathering-line temperature, production rates, and vapour recovery unit flow. Although these measurements do not directly measure tank pressure, changes across multiple signals can create a distinct operational fingerprint when a pressure release occurs.
AroIQ uses these existing proxy signals to establish a baseline for normal battery operation and identify statistically anomalous patterns associated with tank pressure releases. This enables continuous, site-wide monitoring without installing instrumentation on every tank, helping operators detect events sooner, investigate likely causes, and prioritize operational response.
Objective: Detect and attribute tank pressure release events at batteries where no dedicated pressure or temperature sensors are installed on storage tanks.
