Scottish Centre for Carbon Storage · • Engineers frequently design understandable equipment that can be iteratively interrogated • Geologists and oil industry have to accept

Scottish Centre for Carbon Storage

Scottish Centre for Carbon StorageContainment solutions to compliment emissions reduction strategies

Introduction to geological storage of CO2

Dr Mark Naylor



Carbon capture and storage chain



Geological information is inherently uncertain!

• Engineers frequently design understandable equipment that can be iteratively interrogated

• Geologists and oil industry have to accept order of magnitude uncertainty and manage it appropriately…

Where do we find geological information?

Lines Planes Volumes



Experimental

Drainage in Fontainbleau Sandstone

Imibition in Fontainbleau Sandstone



Where do we find geological information?Expert knowledge



• Can the subsurface store co2?– Natural analogues

• How similar is the oil industry?– Reservoir, seal, flow in porous media, multiphase

flow, well design, injection, production, imaging, transport, sub-sea infrastructure…

• Properties of CO2– Phase behaviour

– Multiphase flow

• How much can the earth safely store?– What does safely mean?

• What do we need to monitor? – Extent of CO2 plume?

– Pressure response?



The Earth naturally stores CO2





Natural CO2 leakage

Sub-marineSub-aerial

Bubbles of liquid carbon dioxide rise from

the seafloor at the Champagne vent on

Eifuku volcano in the W Pacific.

The CO2 is liquid due to the high pressure.

Well locations There’s gas in them there hills



Building confidence

• Studying natural analogues allows us to:

– Understand factors that increase security

– Understand why and how it leaks

– Understand impact of leakage

– Test monitoring strategies







– Multiphase flow






Porosity controls capacity of reservoir

Open, v. porous medium, coarse to v.

coarse sandstone

Compacted to moderately compacted

medium to fine sandstones



Hydrocarbon reservoir

• Adequate pore volume

• 3D trap

• Seal

• Adequate permeability



(USGS, 2009)







• Properties of CO2– Phase behaviour– Multiphase flow





(USGS, 2009)



(After Bradshaw and Dance, 2005 and USGS 2001)

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WORLD: Deep saline aquifers 400 - 10,000 Gt (16 - 400yr) (IEA GHG 2004)

Oil and gas reservoirs 930 Gt (37 yr) Coal deep seams 30 Gt (1 yr)










Variability in CO2 density with dT/dz

Cool

Hot

Critical pressure

Sea bed

dT/tz












Plume extent vs pressure response







– Multiphase flow






Where do we find geological information?Line measurements in a 3D volume



Where do we find geological information?Planes in a 3D volume



Where do we find geological information?Remote sensing of 3D volumes

Documents

Scottish Centre for Carbon Storage · • Engineers frequently design understandable equipment that can be iteratively interrogated • Geologists and oil industry have to accept