• fluxtec Logo

    High-resolution gas emission mapping

  • fluxtec Logo

    High-resolution gas emission mapping

  • fluxtec Logo

    High-resolution gas emission mapping

About

fluxtec is a professional service provider of gas analyses for a wide range of applications in exploration and monitoring. This includes mining, geothermal energy, geohazards, waste disposals, environmental studies, and underground gas storage facilities.

Our key motivation is to reduce exploration risks in the development of georesources. We offer tailormade, multi-scale and affordable solutions from single point to reservoir scale surveys. State-of-the-art technologies and innovative workflows for data acquisition, processing, and visualization enable results in real-time.

Our expertise is based on strong international R&D partnerships. We have realised projects in Iceland, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, New Zealand, USA, Mexico, and Germany.

The Motivation

fluxtec Messestand

The Company

The idea for fluxtec consolidated in 2020 when fluxtec received start-up funding from the Helmholtz Enterprise Programme of the Helmholtz Association and the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam. In the same year, fluxtec won the GFZ innovation award. In 2022, fluxtec was awarded the Helmholtz Enterprise spin-off grant. Building on this effort, fluxtec was founded in 2023 and is based in Potsdam, Germany. Our partners and clients are project developers, engineers and decision-makers from industry and public authorities, as well as academic partners.

fluxtec comprises a group of experts in the analysis of environmental parameters and is managed by Egbert Jolie.

Services

We offer sustainable, environmentally friendly and non-invasive technologies to accelerate the expansion of renewable energies and for a safe and sustainable management of the geological subsurface.

The Portfolio

With our portable and flexible equipment, data can be collected even from areas that are difficult to access. Results can be provided in all common data formats and are complementary to common exploration data. We also offer reprocessing of existing data.

Gas Analytics – Visualizing the Hidden

Exploration

Gas emissions at the Earth’s surface provide fingerprints of processes in the deep or shallow underground. They are characteristic for a variety of natural systems (geothermal resources, volcanoes, tectonic rifts), but can also occur as undesired consequences of human activities and installations (mining, boreholes, gas storages, waste disposals). Common endogenous gases are carbon dioxide, methane, but also Radon. The comprehensive analysis of emission rates and gas composition provides valuable insights into the characteristics of georesources and is an integral part of modern exploration and monitoring concepts.

Gas emissions are systematically analysed by fluxtec using an extensive measuring network at predefined measuring locations – in the order of several thousand points. This requires several days of field work and involves extensive on-site measurements and sampling. Flexible grid measurements enable us to analyse large areas of multiple square kilometers.

Monitoring

Monitoring degassing processes at a high spatial and temporal resolution with systematic approaches significantly improves the understanding of (i) undesired changes in gas storage systems, waste disposals, or carbon capture & storage facilities, (ii) geothermal systems and their reaction to geothermal production and stimulation, (iii) processes at major fault zones with high seismic risks, and (iv) behavior of volcanoes in particular before, during and after eruptive episodes. In order to understand dynamics of georesources, we offer multi-component soil gas monitoring by time-lapse and continuous monitoring approaches.

References

Gas emissions on lakes

Lake Ngozi, Tanzania

Gas emissions on lakes

The study describes an integrated approach of (i) bathymetry, (ii) thermal mapping of the lake floor, and (iii) gas emission measurements at the water surface, which was tested successfully at Lake Ngozi in Tanzania. Multiple hydrothermal feed zones could be identified by hole-like structures and increased lake floor temperatures, in combination with increased CO2 emissions from the lake surface. The developed approach has the advantage that (i) it does not require a complex technical setup, (ii) data can be obtained in-situ, and (iii) it is transferable to other volcanic lakes for mapping hydrothermal feed sources.

read more

Pinpointing permeable structures

Aluto-Langano geothermal field, Ethiopia

Pinpointing permeable structures

Active rifts release large amounts of gases from deep sources to the atmosphere along permeable fracture zones. We report CO2, 222Rn (radon), and 220Rn (thoron) emission data and ground temperatures from the Aluto volcanic complex in the Main Ethiopian Rift. Results help to improve understanding of tectonic and volcanic controls on the existing geothermal system and are useful to identify suitable drilling targets for geothermal production wells. Variations in gas emissions also allow mapping of permeable structures, even in areas where faults are not obvious. We show that significant differences in gas signatures (i.e., flow rates and spatial pattern) can be used to identify predominantly volcanically and/or tectonically influenced domains. Emissions increase toward the volcanic center implying a deep degassing magmatic body. read more

Identifying drilling locations

Brady geothermal field, USA

Identifying drilling locations

The percolation of fluids is of utmost relevance for the utilization of underground resources; however, the location and occurrence of fractures are not always known, and important characteristics of faults, such as stress state and permeability, are commonly uncertain. Using a case study at the Brady’s geothermal field in Nevada (USA), we demonstrate how permeable fractures can be identified and assessed by combining fault stress models with measurements of diffuse degassing and emanations at Earth’s surface. Areas of maximum gas emissions and emanations correspond to fault segments with increased slip and dilation tendency, and represent a fingerprint of the geothermal system at depth. Thus, linking gas fluxes with fault stress models serves as a measure of the connectivity between surface and subsurface.

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Geothermal resource identification

Hengill volcano, Iceland

Geothermal resource identification

The study describes spatial variations on the diffuse emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from Hengill volcanic system, Iceland. Soil CO2 and H2S efflux measurements were performed at 752 sampling sites and ranged from nondetectable to 17,666 and 722 g m-2 day-1, respectively. Most of the diffuse CO2 degassing is observed close to areas where active thermal manifestations occur, northeast flank of the Hengill central volcano close to the Nesjavellir power plant, suggesting a diffuse degassing structure with a SSW–NNE trend, overlapping main fissure zone and indicating a structural control of the degassing process. read more

Structural–geological exploration

Brady geothermal field, USA

Structural–geological exploration

Fluid-bearing fracture zones are typically the focus of geothermal exploration as preferential targets for production wells. The ability of fractures to channel fluids is commonly affected by the current stress field. In this study, a three-dimensional structural–geological model of the Brady's geothermal system (Basin-and-Range Province, USA) was developed. We demonstrate that by incorporating slip- and dilation tendencies as a function of the stress field and fault geometry, our 3D-model can efficiently contribute to the identification of favorable drilling targets.

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Reservoir monitoring

Los Humeros, Mexico

Reservoir monitoring

Monitoring of these processes is of utmost importance for volcanic hazard analyses, and is also relevant for managing geothermal resources. Fluid-bearing faults are key elements of economic value for geothermal power generation. Here, we describe for the first time how sensitively and quickly natural gas emissions react to changes within a deep hydrothermal system due to geothermal fluid reinjection.

read more

News

Visit fluxtec at the GeoTHERM Expo & Congress, February 29 – March 01, 2023, in Offenburg, Germany

Contact

fluxtec UG (haftungsbeschränkt)
c/o Universität Potsdam – Potsdam Transfer
August-Bebel-Str. 89
14482 Potsdam
Germany
 
fluxtec is represented by Dr.-Ing. Egbert Jolie

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