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Soil gas dynamics monitoring at a CO2-EOR site for leakage detection

Geomechanics and Geophysics for Geo-Energy and Geo-Resources volume 3, pages 351–364 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

A comprehensive soil gas monitoring program was conducted at a CO2-enhanced oil recovery site in western Mississippi to validate near-surface monitoring technologies for CO2 leakage detection. The program included three main monitoring technologies: (1) using commercial sensors for real-time in situ monitoring of atmospheric and soil CO2 concentrations and of environmental parameters; (2) intermittent soil CO2 flux measurements with a portable CO2 flux survey system; and (3) on-site soil gas composition measurements in semipermanent soil gas wells with a portable gas chromatograph. Atmospheric and soil CO2 concentrations measured with the commercial sensors vary from 340 ppm in the atmosphere to ~12% (volume percentage) in soil at a depth of 3 m showed variations at different time scales over a period of 214 days. Atmospheric and soil CO2 concentrations also showed dependence on environmental parameters. Average CO2 flux measurements at the site were ~6 ± 5.2 g/m2/day, comparable to soil CO2 flux measurements reported at other sites. Grid soil CO2 flux measurements on the pad identified a point with CO2 flux up to 5200 ± 4000 g/m2/day, likely due to a focused leak from the underlying pipeline. Soil gas composition monitoring in the soil gas wells fell into two groups based on the relationship of the soil gas compositions, likely resulted from different biogeochemical processes. The field results provided valuable information on soil gas dynamics for validating numerical models of soil gas transport in the vadose zone and designing and implementing near-surface monitoring programs at other geological carbon sequestration sites.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory under the project of DE-FC26-05NT42590 through the Southeastern Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership’s Phase III research project, and managed by the Southern States Energy Board. We appreciate guest editors, Drs. Soltanian and Dai, and anonymous reviewers for their comments which improve this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, 10100 Burnet Rd., Austin, TX, 78758, USA

    Changbing Yang, Katherine D. Romanak, Robert C. Reedy, Susan D. Hovorka & Ramon H. Trevino

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  1. Changbing Yang
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  2. Katherine D. Romanak
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  3. Robert C. Reedy
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  4. Susan D. Hovorka
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  5. Ramon H. Trevino
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Correspondence to Changbing Yang.

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This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of the authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.

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Yang, C., Romanak, K.D., Reedy, R.C. et al. Soil gas dynamics monitoring at a CO2-EOR site for leakage detection. Geomech. Geophys. Geo-energ. Geo-resour. 3, 351–364 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40948-017-0053-7

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