The challenge:
The capture and storage of carbon produced in industrial processes will play an important role in reducing emissions into the atmosphere in the transition to a net zero economy. Some industries won't be able to eliminate carbon production completely. Even geothermal power, a green energy solution, produces some carbon dioxide and polluting gasses.
A number of companies are proposing carbon capture and storage technologies including Carbfix, an Icelandic company turning carbon dioxide emitted at Reykjavik Energy's Hellisheiði geothermal power plant into rocks for long term storage.
They wanted to understand the carbon mineralization process and monitor the level of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide emitted by the power plant, going into their storage solution. Optimising these carbon capture technologies requires analytical tools capable of continuously monitoring and quantifying the concentration of dissolved emission gases in-situ, which is currently not possible via traditional laboratory analysis.
The solution:
RAL Space scientists have developed the Laser Isotope Ratio Analyser (LIRA) spectrometer which can be used to monitor the carbon capture and sequestration process.
To test the capabilities of the instrument, the LIRA spectrometer was installed in one of Reykjavik Energy's turbine halls and coupled to an operational turbine. Over two weeks it was used to take measurements at different sampling points to monitor the isotope ratio of hydrogen sulphide in real time. This isotope ratio will then be used as a marker by geoscientists to track the efficiency of mineralisation processes, including carbon capture, and will be a valuable tool for the optimisation of these processes.
A second deployment to a gas injection and monitoring well is currently being prepared for summer 2022.
The outcome:
The data generated during the campaign has been analysed by RAL Space scientists to retrieve the isotope ratio. The results will help to validate the instrument performance by comparison with independent measurements done using traditional laboratory analysis. These results will contribute to our understanding of the chemistry of gases in thermal fluids within the injected reservoir, which can play an important role in the optimisation of carbon capture and storage technologies by providing real time measurements of gas input and output.
Additional information:
This work forms part of the Geothermal Emission Control (GECO) H2020 project, led by Reykjavik Energy and funded by the European Commission.
