Jason Vosburgh

The Northeast Gas Association (NGA) has teamed up with Onboard Dynamics to provide a demonstration and training opportunity called the Virtual Product and Service Solution Spotlight to keep their members connected with important gas industry products and services. This virtual event is offered at no cost for NGA members to attend.

The Product Spotlights offer information about new tools, technologies, and services that can enhance operations. Attendees can chat live with other gas industry professionals, manufacturers, distributors, and service providers.

This spotlight topic will be about the GoVAC FLEX – Pipeline Evacuation System. The presentation will be held Tuesday, September 20, 2022 from 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST. Titled: Capture and Recover Natural Gas from Pipelines During Blowdowns with the GoVAC FLEX will be Presented by: Rick Kay, COO of Onboard Dynamics LLC.

The GoVAC FLEX is a revolutionary tool for minimizing methane releases during pipeline blowdowns. It is a complete self-contained pipeline evacuation system that can transfer recovered natural gas to either an adjacent pipeline or compress the gas to 3600 PSI for use elsewhere as a CNG fuel. It is powered by a small portion of the natural gas being recovered, so no external power is required. Its compact size facilitates transport and positioning at job sites. Remote monitoring ensures reliable operation and responsive service. State-of-the-art telemetry provides accurate and detailed environmental reporting. The GoVAC FLEX is part of a growing family of sustainability products from Onboard Dynamics to support the natural gas ecosystem. 

During this session, members will learn how the GoVAC FLEX enables operators to take the lead in incorporating best practices of capture and recovery of natural gas during pipeline evacuations while also offering these benefits: 

• Easy to operate.
• Easy to set up and deploy.
• Safe and compliant.
• Fully automated.
• Fast and efficient from beginning to end.

Benefits such as these will help the natural gas industry keep the natural gas pipeline infrastructure well maintained while mitigating methane emissions.

The goal of Onboard Dynamics is to support the natural gas ecosystem in reducing global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions safely and reliably through our innovative and practical commercial solutions. Our patented, compression-based systems minimize methane and other GHG releases during pipeline operations and maintenance, mitigate GHG emissions from transportation vehicles, and capture methane that would otherwise be released to the atmosphere from other industrial operations. Our customers receive expanded environmental benefits and reduction in costs through purchasing, leasing, and/or receiving turn-key services from our natural gas-powered products.

Guest Blog Post Excerpt: Read the full blog post at the NWGA website here>>

For our society to prosper and thrive while also meeting our environmental goals, there needs to be reframing and rethinking of how we talk about our natural gas ecosystem. We need to help the public better understand the many benefits of natural gas and its supporting infrastructure while living with the risks from all forms of energy and associated infrastructure. So how can natural gas play an important role in achieving our net-zero energy system?  A key step in achieving this goal is to ensure that no natural gas is released into the atmosphere during natural gas pipeline evacuation associated with routine maintenance and unexpected repairs.

Rita Hansen, CEO of Onboard Dynamics will be presenting solutions for methane recovery at the 2022 Western Regional Gas Conference. The session will be held at 10:15 am on August 24th. During this session, attendees will learn how the GoVAC^® FLEX enables operators to take the lead in incorporating best practices during natural gas pipeline evacuation.

There are a handful of technologies across the performance spectrum available to operators to assist in performing pipeline evacuation. Onboard Dynamics has launched one of them. It is called the GoVAC FLEX, which enables pipeline crews to prevent close to 100% of emissions from happening. With the GoVAC Flex, operators can draw down the pipeline to near 0 PSIG using the natural gas in the pipeline as its source of power. The recovered gas can then be transferred into an adjoining pipeline or compressed up to 3600 PSIG and put into a tube trailer for transport and reinjection elsewhere or into a storage tank to be used as CNG fuel for vehicles.

The GoVAC Flex is a mobile system that has a flow rate of 100 SCFM or 100MCF per day. The system can accept inlet pressures up to 1200 PSI and outlet pressures are based on what you are compressing into with a maximum of 3600 PSI.

The Western Regional Gas Conference is held in Scottsdale, Arizona on August 23 and 24th. It is a non-profit organization that covers O&M topics, integrity management, and new technology for the natural gas industry. There are conferences, seminars, and vendor exhibits.

The WRGC objectives are to provide a venue for discussion of natural gas distribution and transmission topics, regulations, and issues. It provides an atmosphere of fellowship, information exchange, and networking between delegates, speakers, and vendors. The venue also gives operators a chance to interact with PHMSA and State Regulators on an informal basis.

Onboard Dynamics’ products and services allow their customers to adopt best practices for performing evacuations of natural gas during pipeline operations, recovering methane from a variety of sources, and transportation refueling of natural gas fleet vehicles. 

Read the full story at American CNG here >>

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign owns and operates approximately 22 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline bringing the fuel to Abbott Power Plant and portions of campus from a connection with Kinder Morgan NGPL near Monticello, IL.  Pipeline safety regulations required the university to install new equipment at the pipeline take point to protect the pipeline from overpressure and allow it to be internally inspected…  

Read the full story at USDI >>

Excerpt from Partnership for Energy Progress:

As a nation, we have set a goal of fighting climate change to preserve and protect our planet. To be “carbon neutral” by 2050, it’s crucial to have a robust, leak-free gas distribution system to complement and supplement renewable energy sources and exploit new forms of zero-carbon and carbon-negative gases, such as renewable natural gas and hydrogen…

Read the guest blog post by Rita Hansen, CEO, Onboard Dynamics here >>