Groundwater supplies could potentially be contaminated by sub-surface activities such as carbon sequestration and oil and gas production. Therefore, a sensor technology based on laser induced break down spectroscopy (LIBS) is being developed in our laboratory for sub-surface water quality monitoring. LIBS has real time monitoring capability and can be applied for elemental and isotopic analysis of solid, liquid, and gas samples. The flexibility of probe design and use of fiber optics make it a suitable technique for real time measurements in harsh conditions and in hard to reach places. The laboratory scale experiments to measure multi-elements composition of water indicate that the technique produces rapid and reliable data in samples with or without a complex sample matrix. This work also outlines the fabrication and application of a miniature ruggedized remotely operated diode pumped solid state passively Q-switched laser system for use as the plasma excitation source for a real-time LIBS analysis. The potential of LIBS as a sensor for continuous measurements of subsurface fluid chemistry over long periods of time without human interaction will be discussed.

Primary Author / Conference Presenter:
Jinesh Jain
National Energy Technology Laboratory
Morgantown, West Virginia, USA

Co-Authors:
Dustin McIntyre, NETL, Morgantown, WV
Dan Hartzler, NETL, Morgantown, WV
Chet Blatt, NETL, Morgantown, WV