Large Area Leak Sensor for Sequestered Carbon Dioxide

In the future, coal fired power plants will require carbon dioxide capture and sequestration (CCS). Without CCS, the emitted carbon dioxide could lead to irreversible climate change. It is critical to insure that sequestered carbon dioxide remain trapped. High-performance sensors are required to detect any leaks at their earliest stages. This project will develop an area-wide carbon dioxide leak detector. A simple, rugged, long-path optical spectrometer will be used to provide the required measurement precision for CO2 leak detection in the presence of the atmospheric background. Smart detection algorithms that take temporal and spatial variability into account will be used to isolate a wide range of leak mechanisms. A bread-boarded, fieldable, laser diode optical spectrometer will be constructed for Phase I proof-of-principle. The sensitivity and selectivity of the instrument for carbon dioxide will be determined over a range of temporal and spatial scales in the field. The requirements for calibration and measurement procedures also will be determined. Commercial Applications and other Benefits as described by the awardee: The spectrometer should meet a low price point, which would encourage widespread deployment in a variety of gas detection applications. Examples include atmospheric monitoring, environmental regulatory compliance, process gas analysis, and biomedical breath diagnostics.