Daily CSR
Daily CSR

Daily CSR
Daily news about corporate social responsibility, ethics and sustainability

WPA USA’s AirWatch System Monitors For Health And Safety



12/30/2020

In comparison to traditional methods of monitoring leaks, the AirWatch System proves to be faster.


Dailycsr.com – 30 December 2020 – The “AirWatch System”, a hydrocarbon monitor, might be small in size and thus have been unassuming so far but it is turning out to be an “essential environmental tool” for improving the “worksites safe” and environmental compliance at “oil and gas facilities”.
 
The system continuously monitors emissions at the above mentioned facilities and signals about “hazardous air pollutants” which even include “volatile organic compounds and hydrocarbons”. In 2019, the system was first established at a facility located in Colorado. An Environmental Engineer from WSP, Steve Kahn stated:
“New regulations in Colorado are requiring real-time air monitoring around oil and gas facilities. There were limited equipment options for durable, reliable, real-time volatile organic compound monitors that could meet the requirements of various new regulations. The AirWatch System was developed to meet this new demand.”
 
LT Environmental, Inc. is a company of WSP USA which created the “proprietary AirWatch System” for measuring “ambient air quality at facility fence lines”. Only clients of WSP can use the system which was designed by “Jeremy Espinoza, Kayla White and Brian Sulzberger”.
 
While, Kahn added:
“The AirWatch System was developed and designed entirely in-house. Research and development with our clients, as well as conversations with regulators and municipalities, have allowed us to refine the system and how we operate it to maximize run time and account for factors such as weather extremes, real-time sampling, data validation, battery life and accuracy.”
 
In comparison to traditional methods of monitoring leaks, the AirWatch System proves to be faster as a result repairs can also be conducted faster whereby reducing emissions and in turn protecting the environment as well as the health of the people around. A web-based secured portal stores real-time data on air samples which can be accessed later on for “laboratory analysis and speciation at a predetermined volatile organic compound threshold using mechanical automation”. Moreover, it also keeps track of meteorological data such as “temperature, humidity, wind speed and wind direction”.
 
Also White further informed:
“Prior methods had a large delay between the time the data was collected and the time these data could be analyzed. The AirWatch System allows for real-time data access and automated alerts that can be paramount in providing timely recommendations for additional site investigation or repair actions.”
 
Kahn recounted:
“We have seen elevated volatile organic compound levels at a location. Using the AirWatch System we were able to identify and fix the leaks in a timely manner, or trace the emissions to another off-site source.”
 
While Espinoza added:
“Understanding the activities conducted around any particular monitor is critical for proper data interpretation and risk management”.
 
References:
3blmedia.com