Application of emerging monitoring techniques at the Illinois Basin – Decatur Project

Abstract

The Illinois Basin – Decatur Project is a large-scale carbon capture and storage demonstration project located in Decatur, Illinois, USA. In this project, one million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) was captured from an ethanol production facility and successfully injected into a deep saline reservoir over a period of three years. The scale of this project presented an opportunity to explore emerging technologies for effective long-term monitoring of the carbon capture and storage site. This research documents the application of three emerging monitoring techniques: (1) a prototype “open-path” sensor, a method of continuously monitoring atmospheric CO2 by applying tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy to provide a warning system for personnel safety along pipelines and at wellheads; (2) the Greenhouse Gas Laser Imaging Tomography Experiment (GreenLITE), an automated system for measuring two-dimensional spatial distribution of atmospheric CO2 concentrations; and (3) periodic aerial imagery, a method of documenting surface-vegetation dynamics to detect vegetative responses to CO2 leaks. The goal of this work was to assess the advantages and limitations of these monitoring techniques and quantify their reliability over an extended deployment at an active industrial site. These results will aid in determining viability of long-term monitoring on a commercial scale.