Quantifying Residual and Dissolution Trapping in the CO2CRC Otway Injection Site
For a wide adoption of the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology, it is essential to provide a commercial operator with a reassurance of the predictability of their proposed site for CO2 storage through geochemical monitoring techniques. This is particular important for assessing residual and solubility trapping, which are more…
Principal investigator(s): S. Gilfillan
Lead institution: University of Edinburgh
For a wide adoption of the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology, it is essential to provide a commercial operator with a reassurance of the predictability of their proposed site for CO2 storage through geochemical monitoring techniques. This is particular important for assessing residual and solubility trapping, which are more secure than structural trapping of free-phase CO2. It is difficult to quantify how much CO2 is stored by residual and solubility trapping across an entire storage site. Hence, there is a need to develop a test which can be performed at a single injection well during assessment of a potential site for CO2 injection. CO2CRC, one of the world-leading CCS research organisations, conducted the Otway Stage 2B Extension residual saturation test in December 2014 to determine residual trapping at their Otway test site in Victoria, Australia, using a single-well field setting. In direct collaboration with CO2CRC and other global research institutions (CSIRO Energy, University of Melbourne, Simon Fraser University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), we use water and gas geochemistry to establish the fate of CO2 injected into the Paaratte Formation at the Otway test site. More specifically, we study the application of oxygen isotopes and noble gases to reconstruct levels of residual trapping of CO2.
Main project funder category: UKCCSRC – Call 2
Funder name: UKCCSRC
Project date: Mar 2019
Lead institution: University of Edinburgh
Principal investigator(s): S. Gilfillan
Co-Investigator(s): G. Johnson, S. Haszeldine
Category: Storage/Monitoring
Primary research theme: CO2 Tracers
Multiscale Characterisation of CO2 Storage in the United Kingdom
We combine pore scale digital rock physics, reservoir condition special core analysis, and reservoir simulation to evaluate the performance of CO2 storage for the major target storage regions of the UK.
Principal investigator(s): S. Krevor
Lead institution: Imperial College London
We combine pore scale digital rock physics, reservoir condition special core analysis, and reservoir simulation to evaluate the performance of CO2 storage for the major target storage regions of the UK.
Key objectives:
- Develop a dataset of relative permeability and residual trapping for major storage targets in the UK (Fig. 1), obtained experimentally at reservoir conditions
- Identify the contribution of pore scale rock morphology to multiphase flow dynamics and dissolution trapping
- Use the data in reservoir simulations to update dynamic capacity estimation for UK reservoirs
Main project funder category: UKCCSRC – Call 2
Funder name: UKCCSRC
Project date: Mar 2019
Lead institution: Imperial College London
Principal investigator(s): S. Krevor
Co-Investigator(s): G.A. Williams, M.J. Blunt
Category: Storage/Appraisal & Site Evaluation
Primary research theme: Generic Techniques/Site Specific
The Development and Demonstration of Best Practice Guidelines for the Safe Start-up Injection of CO2 into Depleted Gas Fields
Highly-depleted gas fields represent prime potential targets for large-scale storage of captured CO2 emitted from industrial sources and fossil-fuel power plants. Given the potentially low reservoir pressures as well as the unique thermodynamic properties of CO2, especially in the presence of the various stream impurities, the injection process…
Principal investigator(s): H. Mahgerefteh
Lead institution: University College London
Highly-depleted gas fields represent prime potential targets for large-scale storage of captured CO2 emitted from industrial sources and fossil-fuel power plants. Given the potentially low reservoir pressures as well as the unique thermodynamic properties of CO2, especially in the presence of the various stream impurities, the injection process presents significant safety and operational challenges.
In particular, the start-up injection leads to the following risks:
- blockage due to hydrate and ice formation following the contact of the cold CO2 with the interstitial water around the wellbore;
- thermal stress shocking of the wellbore casing steel, leading to its fracture and ultimately escape of CO2;
- over-pressurisation accompanied by CO2 backflow into the injection system due to the violent evaporation of the superheated liquid CO2 upon entry into the wellbore.
Aims and objectives
The aim of our work is two-fold:
- to develop a homogeneous relaxation flow model for the numerical simulation of the highly-transient phenomena taking place in wells accounting for variable cross-sectional area during the injection of CO2. Mass, momentum, and energy conservation equations are considered in the tubing. Wall friction, gravitational force, and heat transfer between the fluid and the surrounding formation are also taken into account.
- to perform a sensitivity analysis using various injection rates and temperatures, in order to propose optimal transient-operation design and develop best-practice guidelines for the minimisation of the risk associated with start-up injection of CO2 into highly-depleted gas fields.
Main project funder category: UKCCSRC – Call 2
Funder name: UKCCSRC
Project date: Mar 2019
Lead institution: University College London
Principal investigator(s): H. Mahgerefteh
Co-Investigator(s): S. Brown
Category: Storage
Primary research theme: Depleted fields