Emissions monitoring and tracking system

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the identification code is carried on a label attached at the release point.

Claim 4

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the main computer further issues a repair report when the sense signal data exceeds the threshold.

Claim 5

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the main computer generates a history of the release point comprising each date that the portable sensor sensed the emissions and the results of each comparison and updates that history for each comparison.

Claim 6

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the portable data collector also records the date and time when it records the identification and sense signals, and the main computer receives the date and time and updates the history of the release point.

Claim 7

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the identification code is unique to the release point.

Claim 8

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the portable data collector opens a record upon receiving a first identification signal of the emissions point, records the identification signal and the sense signal as data and closes and stores the record upon receipt of a second identification signal; and the main computer receives the record, stores the record, and compares the sense data of the record to the predetermined threshold.

Claim 9

The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the portable data collector closes and stores the record only if it receives the second identification signal within a predetermined time after receiving the first identification signal.

Claim 10

Apparatus for monitoring hydrocarbon emissions from an emissions release point, comparing the monitored emissions to a threshold, and reporting the comparison results, the apparatus comprising: an identification code disposed at the emissions release point to identify the release point; a portable data entry device into which the identification code is entered, the data entry device providing an identification signal representative of the identification code; a portable sensor which senses the hydrocarbon emissions from the release point and provides a sense signal representative of those sensed emissions; a portable data collector coupled to the data entry device and to the sensor to receive the identification signal and the sense signal and to record the identification and sense signals as data in a record initiated by the identification signal wherein the portable data collector also records the date when it records the data; and a main computer selectively coupled to the portable data collector which receives the recorded data when coupled to the portable data collector, compares the received sense data to a predetermined threshold to determine if the sense data exceeds the threshold, reports the result of the comparison, maintains an emissions history of the release point and updates the history of the release point, and issues a repair report in the event that the sense signal data exceeds the threshold.

Claim 11

Apparatus for monitoring hydrocarbon emissions from an emissions release point, comparing the monitored emissions to a threshold, and reporting the comparison results, the apparatus comprising: an identification code disposed at the emissions release point to identify the release point; a portable data entry device into which the identification code is entered, the data entry device providing an identification signal representative of the identification code; a portable sensor which senses the hydrocarbon emissions from the release point and provides a sense signal representative of those sensed emissions; a portable data collector coupled to the data entry device and to the sensor to receive the identification signal and the sense signal and to record the identification and sense signals as data in a record initiated by the identification signal wherein the portable data collector also records the date when it records the data; and a main computer selectively coupled to the portable data collector which receives the recorded data when coupled to the portable data collector, compares the received sense data to a predetermined threshold to determine if the sense data exceeds the threshold, reports the result of the comparison, maintains an emissions history of the release point and updates the history of the release point, and issues a repair report in the event that the sense signal data exceeds the threshold.

Claim 12

The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the history of the release point comprises each date that the portable sensor sensed the emissions and the results of each comparison.

Claim 13

The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the identification code is unique to the emissions release point.

Claim 14

The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the portable data collector opens a record upon receiving a first identification signal of the emissions release point, records the identification signal and the sense signal as data, and closes and stores the record upon receipt of a second identification signal; and the main computer receives the record, stores the record, and compares the sense data of the record to the predetermined threshold.

Claim 15

The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the portable data collector will not close and store the record if the second identification signal is not received within a predetermined time after receiving the first identification signal.

Claim 18

The method of claim 14 further comprising the step of issuing a repair report when the sensed emissions data exceeds the predetermined limit.

Claim 19

The method of claim 14 further comprising the step of generating a history of the release point comprising each date that the portable sensor sensed the emissions and the results of each comparison.

Claim 20

The method of claim 14 further comprising the steps of: recording the date when the identification and sense signals are recorded as data; transferring the recorded date, identification, and emissions data to the main computer; and storing the result of the comparison, the identification data and the date.

Claim 21

The method of claim 14 wherein the step of assigning an identification code comprises assigning a unique identification code to the emissions release point.

Claim 22

The method of claim 14 further comprising the steps of: opening a record upon receiving a first identification signal of the emissions point; recording the identification signal and the sense signal as data; and closing and storing the record upon receipt of a second identification signal.

Claim 23

The method of claim 19 wherein the step of closing and storing the record occurs only when a second identification signal is received within a predetermined time after receiving the first identification signal.