Near-surface soil carbon detection for monitoring CO2 seepage from a geological reservoir

The promise of the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) Inelastic Neutron Scattering (INS) System was evaluated for use as a long-term, in-field monitor to detect cumulative changes in belowground carbon resulting from the leakage of CO2 stored in deep geological reservoirs. This system underwent tests at a facility constructed specifically for testing, under controlled conditions, various detection systems for monitoring near-surface transport and accumulations of CO2 fluxes emanating from a shallow buried, slotted horizontal well. The INS System was assessed by comparing the results from placing it above the horizontal well at a spot with a known high CO2 leak identified and quantified the previous years, with those obtained from background readings adjacent to the well. At two different “Hot Spots”, a suppression of about 14% in 2008 and about 7% in 2009 in carbon content above the well in comparison to the background signal was observed. An overview of these results is presented.

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