A controlled-release test at the In-Situ Laboratory Project in Western Australia injected 38 tonnes of gaseous CO₂ between 336−342 m depth in a fault zone, and the gas was monitored by a wide range of downhole and surface monitoring technologies. Injection of CO₂ at this depth fills the gap between shallow release (<25 m) and storage (>600 m) field trials. The main objectives of the controlled-release test were to assess the monitorability of shallow CO₂ accumulations, and to investigate the impacts of a fault zone on CO₂ migration.

CO₂ arrival was detected by distributed temperature sensing at the monitoring well (7 m away) after approximately 1.5 days and an injection volume of 5 tonnes. The CO₂ plume was detected also by borehole seismic and electric resistivity imaging. The detection of significantly less than 38 tonnes of CO₂ in the shallow subsurface demonstrates rapid and sensitive monitorability of potential leaks in the overburden of a commercial-scale storage project, prior to reaching shallow groundwater, soil zones or the atmosphere.

Observations suggest that the fault zone did not alter the CO₂ migration along bedding at the scale and depth of the test. Contrary to model predictions, no vertical CO₂ migration was detected beyond the perforated injection interval. CO₂ and formation water escaped to the surface through the monitoring well at the end of the experiment due to unexpected damage to the well’s fibreglass casing. The well was successfully remediated without impact to the environment and the site is ready for future experiments.

在西澳大利亚的In-Situ实验室项目进行的控释测试在断层带中注入了38吨气态CO ₂，排放深度在336-342 m之间，并且通过多种井下和地面监测技术对其进行了监测。在此深度注入CO ₂可以填补浅释放（<25 m）和储存（> 600 m）现场试验之间的空白。控释试验的主要目的是评估浅层CO ₂积累的可监测性，并研究断层带对CO ₂运移的影响。

大约1.5天后和注入量为5吨后，通过分布式温度感应在监测井（7 m处）检测到CO ₂到达。还通过井眼地震和电阻率成像检测到了CO ₂羽流。在浅层次表层中发现的CO ₂明显少于38吨，这表明在商业规模的存储项目覆盖层中，到达浅层地下水，土壤区域或大气之前，可以快速，灵敏地监测潜在的泄漏。

观察结果表明，在测试的规模和深度，断层带并没有改变CO ₂沿着层理的迁移。与模型预测相反，超出穿孔注入间隔未检测到垂直CO ₂迁移。在实验结束时，由于井的玻璃纤维套管意外损坏，CO ₂和地层水通过监测井逸出到地面。该井已成功修复，对环境没有影响，该站点已准备好进行以后的实验。