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PUBLICATIONS

Methodology and uncertainty estimation for measurements of methane leakage in a manufactured house

Published

Author(s)

Anna Karion, Michael Link, Rileigh Robertson, Tyler Boyle, Dustin Poppendieck

Abstract

Recent measurements of emissions of methane from residential natural gas appliances have indicated non-negligible emissions within residences, with impacts on both indoor air quality and climate. As a result, methane losses from residential buildings have recently been included in the latest US national inventory, with emission factors determined from a single study of homes in California. In this study we determined whole-house methane emissions using mass balance approach and near-simultaneous measurements of indoor and outdoor methane mole fractions at a manufactured house. We quantified the uncertainty in whole-house methane emission by varying the forced air ventilation rate of the manufactured house, measuring the air change rate using both sulfur hexafluoride and carbon dioxide, and performing methane injections. We found that whole house quiescent methane emission rate in the manufactured house averaged 0.34 g d-1 with methodological errors on the calculated emission rates to be approximately 20 % (root-mean-square-deviation). We also measured the quiescent leakage from the manufactured house over three months to find 24 % (1-sigma) variability in emissions over two seasons. Our findings can help inform plans for future studies quantifying indoor methane losses after residential meters using similar methods.
Citation
Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
Pub Type
Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-7065-2024
Local Download

Keywords

methane, indoor air quality, natural gas
Indoor air quality and Greenhouse gas measurements

Citation

Karion, A. , Link, M. , Robertson, R. , Boyle, T. and Poppendieck, D. (2024), Methodology and uncertainty estimation for measurements of methane leakage in a manufactured house, Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, [online], https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-7065-2024, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=958160 (Accessed October 7, 2025)

Issues

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Created December 18, 2024, Updated December 20, 2024
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