The Scientists from the Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage (SCCS) partnership have produced a new research paper, which focuses on the use of chemical tracers in carbon dioxide (CO2) leakage monitoring for offshore carbon capture and storage (CSS) projects worldwide.
The research team from the universities of Edinburgh and Strathclyde, in partnership with the National Geosequestration Laboratory (CSIRO) in Australia, identified the key challenges to using tracers for offshore monitoring, which should be the focus of future research.
Their work identified issues such as the potential lifespan of tracer chemicals over long timeframes, tracer behaviour in marine sediments or CO2 bubble streams, possible legal constraints and environmental effects, and how best to sample the tracers.
These issues will directly affect the selection of appropriate tracers, the injection programme and concentrations necessary for their reliable detection as well as appropriate sampling approaches. The paper suggests a programme of work to address these uncertainties and inform any future field trials.
... to continue reading you must be subscribed