A SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATED, REAL-TIME, MULTI-PARAMETRIC MONITORING OF REMOTE CO2 STORAGE SITE WITH ONLINE DATA ANALYSIS AND DISSEMINATION

Recent advances in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology suggest that CO₂ can be stored safely in geological reservoirs for thousands of years. The development of new, reliable monitoring and verification tools and protocols is necessary to improve our understanding and assess short- and long-term risks related to CO₂ storage in geological reservoirs. The Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research (VCCER) developed an automated, real-time, multi-parametric monitoring and verification system. The system was implemented at the Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership’s (SECARB) Central Appalachian Coal Seam Project test site in Russell County, Virginia, in order to verify the sequestration capacity and performance of mature Coalbed Methane (CBM) reservoirs. The system was designed to control multiple sensors deployed at the remote CO₂ sequestration site, and to collect and analyze large dynamic data sets from the CO₂ injection process, reservoir properties, and ambient air quality. This real-time monitoring system was built on a web-based platform allowing for remote control and real-time data reporting. The results achieved with this system are particularly significant for long-term monitoring in remote areas, where the costs of recurrently accessing sites for frequent data collection are very high. This system scales up to larger sensor arrays that are expected in large-scale commercial CCS projects.

This discussion aims to give a detailed review of the implementation and results from this monitoring study and to evaluate applicability of different monitoring and verification technologies. This study was supported through funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory.