A shallow subsurface controlled release facility in Bozeman, Montana, USA, for testing near surface CO2 detection techniques and transport models

Abstract

A controlled field pilot has been developed in Bozeman, Montana, USA, to study near surface CO 2 transport and detection technologies. A slotted horizontal well divided into six zones was installed in the shallow subsurface. The scale and CO 2 release rates were chosen to be relevant to developing monitoring strategies for geological carbon storage. The field site was characterized before injection, and CO 2 transport and concentrations in saturated soil and the vadose zone were modeled. Controlled releases of CO 2 from the horizontal well were performed in the summers of 2007 and 2008, and collaborators from six national labs, three universities, and the U.S. Geological Survey investigated movement of CO 2 through the soil, water, plants, and air with a wide range of near surface detection techniques. An overview of these results will be presented.

Demonstration of spatial greenhouse gas mapping using laser absorption spectrometers on local scales

“…The ZERT site, operated by Montana State University, is equipped with a 70-m pipe buried ∼2 m below the surface from which they are permitted to release CO 2 at a rate of up to 0.3 ton∕day. 8 The site was designed to test monitoring, reporting, and verification approaches and instrumentation, with the release rate from the 70-m underground pipe having been scaled to the required sensitivity needed for ensuring 99% containment of a full-scale GCS site. 25 The GreenLITE system was operated at the site over a 4-week period in fall 2014 and demonstrated the ability to detect not only the controlled release but also the CO 2 signature from a manure pile located near the test site.…”

“…Local testing at the Harris farm test facility in New Haven, Indiana, enabled the use of aboveground releases using dual-open chambers to enhance the concentration along a pair of user-defined chords, and the ZERT facility provided a well-instrumented environment that enabled both above-and inground releases over an extended area. 8 One of the challenges in modeling 2-D fields of CO 2 concentrations is one's ability to crosscalibrate and/or assess the accuracy of the resulting modeled field values. While numerous methods exist for acquiring in situ point measurements of CO 2 concentration as well as flux, it becomes extremely difficult to acquire enough temporally colocated data to accurately represent the distribution over an extended open path field.…”

“…Although these DIAL instruments showed generally good agreement with independent measurements, most of the testing to date has been performed only in nighttime conditions and showed little, if any, correlation to the temporal variability seen in the in situ measurements. 7 Recent testing of the GreenLITE system at the Zero Emissions Research and Technology (ZERT) site in Bozeman, Montana, 8 included similar comparisons of in situ to average GreenLITE CO 2 measurements. In this case, the GreenLITE instrument and the in situ instrument showed a correlation coefficient over several hours of >0.933 for multiple tests on multiple days, and a correlation coefficient of 0.98 for a 23-h continuous period.…”

Multispectral imaging system on tethered balloons for optical remote sensing education and outreach

“…[4][5][6] This research was conducted at an agricultural field west of the MSU-Bozeman campus, with support through the Zero Emissions Research and Technology (ZERT) center at Montana State University. 7 In our multispectral imaging experiments at the ZERT site, we acquire red and near-infrared (NIR) reflectance images of the vegetation, and then identify the locations of leaking gas through statistical analysis of the reflectances and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), calculated as follows:…”

Field demonstration of a 1×4 fiber sensor array for subsurface carbon dioxide monitoring for carbon sequestration

“…3, a description of a 1 × 4 fiber sensor array is presented. Data from a 58-day field deployment at a controlled subsurface release of CO 2 at the Zero Emission Research Technology (ZERT) field site 40,41 are presented in Sec. 4.…”