Report: Feasibility of using DCS for CO2 leakage monitoring
Development of new fiber for distributed chemical sensing (DCS) that will allow direct detection of CO2 in the environment, specifically for monitoring well integrity for carbon capture and storage (CSS), and providing early warning for an incoming well failure and potential CO2 leaking through it.
Spectroscopic detection of CO2, using Raman or IR interrogation within gas-filled Holey Fibers (HoFs), where light and gas greatly overlap, provides a strong signal for the gas with a specific signature. HoF can be interleaved with standard solid core fibers and Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sections, so that the location and concentration of the gases would be provided simultaneously by means of reflectometry. The methodology overcomes current roadblocks to using fiber optics for CO2 (and other gases) detection in wells with direct in-situ measurements of concentration along with other important parameters such as temperature and pressure as the baseline of environment background. A successful demonstration will lead to an affordable, flexible, societally embedded and smart early-warning system, for monitoring any CO2 storage reservoir and subsurface barrier system, receiving CO2 from fossil fuel power plants, oil refineries, process plants and other industries.