About the Project
SUMMARY
In order to reduce the load of carbon contained in the Earth’s atmosphere (and so reduce the effect this has on climate), depleted oil wells in the seabed beneath the North Sea will be pumped with atmospheric carbon to transform these depleted wells in ‘Carbon Capture and Storage’ (CCS) reservoirs. In preparation for this, methods will be developed to test our ability to check for leaks from such CCS reservoirs. Following a world-leading test in shallow waters (around 10 m deep) off Scotland [1], the same team is expanding in a pan-European collaboration to test the detection methods by placing sensors on the floor of the North Sea. This studentship will develop, as part of that team, acoustical and optical sensors in the laboratory, and then accompany the team on ships in the North Sea to deploy these sensors, then process the data afterwards in Southampton.
METHODOLOGY:
The amount of gas escaping in the form of bubbles will be measured through a number of techniques that will be cross-compared. These include passive sonar (‘the more bubbles that are released, the louder the sound of the leak’ – see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H4toaWU_IY), photography, and active sonar (where the scattering of echolocation sonar pings from the escaping bubble cloud allows us to estimate the size of the gas release).
FACILITIES:
Prior to the at-sea testing, the student will be able to develop technologies using the University’s labs and facilities, including the A. B. Wood Laboratory (an underground water tank containing 200 tonnes of water into which apparatus and measurement equipment will be deployed by crane). During the main North Sea experiment, the student will analyse data from autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV), and seabed lander systems.
[1] Blackford, J., et al., (2014) Detection and impacts of leakage from sub-seafloor deep geological carbon dioxide storage, Nature Climate Change 4(11), 1011-1016 (doi: 10.1038/nclimate2381).
The supervisors for this project will be Professor Timothy Leighton, Professor Paul White, and Professor Jon Bull. If you wish to discuss any details of the project informally, please contact Professor Timothy Leighton, email address: [Email Address Removed].
Continue with Facebook
