What is FEAST?

The Fugitive Emissions Abatement Simulation Toolkit or FEAST is a model to evaluate the effectiveness of methane leak detection and repair (LDAR) programs at oil and gas facilities. Recent advances in the development of new fixed (continuous monitoring systems) and mobile (truck-, drone-, plane-, and satellite-based) methane leak detection technologies have led to growing interest in alternative LDAR programs. Thus, FEAST can also be used to compare the relative effectiveness of new technologies and methods as part of LDAR programs.

To learn more about what FEAST does, please see this introductory slide deck. FEAST Slide-Deck

Fig 1. A schematic representation of the FEAST simulation tool – FEAST can be used to understand the effectiveness of new technologies in reducing methane emissions across the natural gas supply chain

What are some applications for FEAST?

  1. Technology assessment: Assess the effectiveness of methane detection using various fixed and mobile sensors (trucks, drones, planes, etc.) at upstream oil and gas facilities.
  2. Cost-benefit analysis: Analyze the costs and benefits of leak detection and repair programs under various technology and policy options.
  3. Long-term methane management: Design and evaluate leak detection and repair surveys using one or multiple technology systems to achieve long-term emissions mitigation targets.

Latest Version: FEAST 3.1

As part of the Pathway to Equivalence Project, Harrisburg University and Colorado State University has publicly released the latest version of the FEAST modeling software – FEAST 3.1.

FEAST 3.1 Materials

  • FEAST 3.1 Tutorial Link (no storage requirements): Tutorial
  • Github supported FEAST 3.1 tutorial link: Github Tutorial
  • FEAST 3.1 Webinar Slides: Slides
  • Link to FEAST 3.1 code-base and documentation: GitHub

FEAST Webinar Videos

A public webinar to introduce features in FEAST 3.1 was held on January 27th, 2021. The video from the webinar are made available below in two parts:

Part 1: Introduction to FEAST 3.1: A high-level demonstration of FEAST 3.1 features and capabilities (intended for a wide and general audience)

Link: FEAST 3.1: Part 1 Introduction

Part 2: FEAST 3.1 Tutorial: Installation and running the FEAST software in Python, customizing simulation runs (intended for FEAST users)

Link: FEAST 3.1: Part 2 Tutorial

FEAST 3.1 Research Paper

We just released a new paper that discusses how operators and regulatory agencies can design methane leak detection and repair (LDAR) programs using new technologies that involve hybrid approaches. These would be critical to determine ‘equivalency’ across different LDAR programs in the US and elsewhere: Download HERE.

Citation

Please cite the following paper(s) when you use FEAST in your work:

  1. C.E. Kemp, and A.P. Ravikumar (2021). New Technologies can Cost-effectively Reduce Oil and Gas Methane Emissions, but Policies will Require Careful Design to Establish Mitigation Equivalence. EarthArXiV.
  2. C.E. Kemp, A.P. Ravikumar, and A.R. Brandt (2016). Comparing Natural Gas Leakage Detection Technologies Using an Open-Source “Virtual Gas Field” Simulator. Environ. Sci. Tech. 50 4546.

Contact Information / Newsletter

For FEAST software related questions, please email [email protected]
If you’re interested in collaborating on research, please contact the PI at [email protected]

FEAST Related Publications

  1. C.E. Kemp, A.P. Ravikumar, and A.R. Brandt (2016). Comparing Natural Gas Leakage Detection Technologies Using an Open-Source “Virtual Gas Field” Simulator. Environ. Sci. Tech. 50 4546.
  2. A.P. Ravikumar, J. Wang, and A.R. Brandt (2017). Are optical gas imaging technologies effective for methane leak detection? Environ. Sci. Tech. 51 718.
  3. A.P. Ravikumar, and A.R. Brandt (2017). Designing better methane mitigation policies: the challenge of distributed small sources in the natural gas sector. Environ. Res. Lett. 12 044023.
  4. A.P. Ravikumar, J. Wang, M. McGuire, C. Bell, D. Zimmerle, and A.R. Brandt (2018). “Good versus Good Enough?” Empirical Tests of Methane Leak Detection Sensitivity of a Commercial Infrared Camera. Environ. Sci. Tech. 52 2368.
  5. C.E. Kemp, and A.P. Ravikumar (2021). New Technologies can Cost-effectively Reduce Oil and Gas Methane Emissions, but Policies will Require Careful Design to Establish Mitigation Equivalence. (in review at Environ. Sci. Tech.) EarthArXiV pre-print.

FEAST – Version History

  • FEAST 3.1 – current version (developed at Harrisburg University as part of the Path to Equivalence Project in collaboration with Colorado State University, 2020 – 2021).
  • FEAST 3.0 – New functionality to support hybrid LDAR programs (developed by C.E. Kemp and A.P. Ravikumar, Harrisburg University, 2019 — 2020)
  • FEAST 2.0 – Python variant of FEAST 1.0 (developed by C.E. Kemp, Stanford University, 2017 — 2018)
  • FEAST 1.0 – Original version developed in MATLAB (developed by C.E. Kemp, A.P. Ravikumar, and A.R. Brandt, Stanford University, 2016–2017).