10117205Monitoring dissolved methane in wastewater treatment plants for emissions managementClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKWastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are estimated to be responsible for 7-10% of all methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas responsible for a third of all global warming. Improved monitoring and mitigation of process emissions has been identified by Ofwat as a key sectorial goal. However, current dissolved methane measuring tools lack the required accuracy to drive substantial reductions in operational GHG emissions from WWTPs, owing to the complexity of measuring phase mixtures (e.g. dissolved methane, gases and liquids with solids, plus surface gas vapours and emissions). Water companies are reliant on an inaccurate process emission estimation method which extrapolates from CO2e (UK Carbon Accounting Workbook) resulting in substantial underestimation of process emissions. Detection and subsequent capture of biomethane represents an opportunity as an onsite renewable energy source, to help mitigate high energy costs as well as a valuable revenue opportunity through gas-to-grid sales and/or carbon credits. In this project, Bluemethane will develop a dissolved-methane measuring system in collaboration with experts in engineering photonics, methane capture and system design based at the Cranfield University Water Science Institute, for measuring and monitoring methane across municipal and industrial wastewater management processes. The monitoring system developed will enable near real-time measurements of dissolved methane concentrations in wastewater, with marked increases in both measurement accuracy and analysis time when compared to traditional methods. Full system validation will be conducted through test trials at operational WWTPs hosted by water company partners (United Utilities and Scottish Water) supporting a full assessment of technoeconomic viability.