The intelligent Carbon Leakage Surveillance (iCLS) System

Abstract

Abstract Pressure to improve sustainability, particularly with regard to CO2 emissions, is mounting for the oil and gas sector. Many companies have been working extensively on developing technologies programs to decarbonize. One of the technologies implemented to reduce carbon emissions is enhanced oil recovery (EOR) using CO2. To ensure that the sequestered CO2 is not leaking, the area needs to be monitored for the release of CO2 within the wells. The iCLS deployment is based on eddy covariance technology which is a micrometeorological technique for direct measurements of gas transport between the surface and the atmosphere. It is utilized to monitor large areas where CO2 may escape from the subsurface, to detect and quantify CO2 leakage, and to improve CO2 storage efficiency. It includes a number of High Frequency CO2/H2O gas analyzer in combination with 3D high frequency Anemometer, which are used to determine fluxes and monitor any increase of CO2 emissions over time. The tower will also employ a combination of BioMet sensors to interpret the fluxes measured. Several methods that monitor the CO2 concentrations on the surface have been evaluated, and EC method was considered most appropriate to monitor a large area of interest (AOI) continuously. Local conditions have been checked, and an EC system was designed. The location of the EC system was fixed to match requirements by landscape, wind direction, AOI and budget. In order to ensure continuous access to the remote EC system, communication and software tools were used for data monitoring and surveillance of instruments. Lastly but most importantly, this technology will be supported by renewable energy such as solar and wind power modules. Two 25 m towers were erected at the AOI, employing CO2/H2O analyzers along with anemometers, data management & communication systems and solar power systems each. The two EC systems were fully installed. Furthermore, the systems were checked successfully for data collection and for remote access from the company’s offices for review and analysis. For additional assurance, a simulated CO2 release experiment was conducted to measure the sensitivity of the technology. The experiment showed that iCLS did detect the release, which as a result showed a spike in CO2 concentration. This paper will share the lessons learnt from the deployment of such innovative technology. This deployment of eddy covariance is one of the few for CCUS surface monitoring. Additionally, the simulated CO2 release experiment is the first in the world for such a deployment and AOI.