Fiber Based Return Signal CO2 Sensing System for Sequestration Site Monitoring

A key technology with immediate potential for reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with fossil fuel power plants is carbon sequestration. To ensure successful CO2 sequestration, the ability to monitor leakage from the geologic storage sites and the pipelines delivering the CO2 to those sites is paramount. The goal of this SBIR is to accelerate the development of a low-cost fiber-based sensor system for the detection of low levels of CO2 in the subsurface by leveraging the tunable laser technology already successfully demonstrated for CO2 measurements and combine it with newly available Photonic BandGap (PBG) fibers to produce a rugged sensor with no active components. The system will be in a call/return architecture that will allow for multiple test sites to be monitored while only using one laser source and two detectors. This all fiber-based platform, which can be buried or placed in relatively inaccessible locations, is envisioned to be unaffected by atmospheric disturbances above ground, and is scalable to cover wide areas and distances comparable to those found at CO2 sequestration sites. The proposed instrument, together with AdvR’s expertise in specialty fiber-based devices, will enable the successful development of a field-deployable system for integration into CO2 sequestration sites, thus meeting the specific requirements in EPA SBIR Solicitation Topic D for innovation source measurement techniques for dispersed sources of GHG emissions.