Core Research Projects: Storage & Transport, B2 – CO2 Migration & Storage

null

Key facts about this core research project

Theme: Storage & transport
Researchers: Dr Andy Chadwick, Prof Stuart Haszeldine, Dr Stuart Gilfillan, Dr Sam Krevor, Dr Jerome Neufeld, Dr Gareth Williams, John Williams
Institution: University of Edinburgh, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London and British Geological Survey
Start date: 2017

Why is this research needed?

In order to meet its climate change commitments, the UK needs to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from power stations and industrial facilities and store it safely underground. CO2 can be injected through a drilled hole or ‘well’ into rocks located deep beneath the surface of the earth. Rocks suitable for CO2 storage resemble a sponge or swiss cheese, with a solid rock ‘frame’ enclosing microscopic voids called pores. The injected CO2 forms a mobile plume, which collects in the pores and can move through the rocks driven by buoyancy forces until it becomes trapped permanently within the rocks. This process can be visualised by thinking of a plume of smoke rising from a chimney: think of the chimney as the injection well, the atmosphere as the storage rock and the smoke represents the CO2 plume.

It is important that scientists are able to predict where and how quickly CO2 will move, and where it will be trapped. This can be done in two ways. First, it is possible for scientists to build computer models of a CO2 plume. These computer models can then be used to predict the long-term fate of the CO2 in a similar manner to a long-term weather forecast. The UK Meteorological Office routinely uses computer models of the global climate to predict weather patterns in the UK: we expect our models to be much more accurate! Second, it is possible to directly image the CO2 plume in the sub-surface using something called a seismic survey. Seismic surveys are routinely used in oil and gas exploration. They use sound waves to record changes in the physical properties of rocks in the ground. The presence of CO2 in the rock causes a specific acoustic response, or seismic signature, which shows scientists the location of the CO2. Seismic imaging is similar in concept to an ultrasound scan, routinely used in hospitals to take pictures of babies in the womb and diagnose various pathologies, or radar and sonar, used to locate planes in the air and ships at sea.

Scientists and engineers require a lot of information in order to accurately predict the behaviour of a CO2 plume in the ground. They require information about changes in the physical properties of rocks; about chemical reactions that might occur between the CO2, the rock and existing fluids in the rock pores; and finally, they must develop a detailed understanding of specific physical processes which determine the fate of the CO2 over thousands of years. It is clear that a significant amount of multi-disciplinary research is needed to obtain this important information!

What is this research investigating?

This research project has been carefully designed to answer some fundamental questions about the behaviour of a CO2 plume.

  1. How do CO2 plumes move through the rock?
  2. How is the CO2 stored in the rock?
  3. How much CO2 dissolves into water already present in the rock pores?
  4. How do changes in the type of rock impact the distribution and seismic response of the CO2 plume?

In an attempt to answer these questions, our scientists are combining laboratory experiments conducted on rock samples obtained from wells drilled during oil and gas exploration with experimental data measured at CO2 injection test sites from around the world. Our state-of-the-art laboratory facilities will use 3D micro-scanning of rock samples representing the range of CO2 storage rocks present in the UK. These measurements will then be used to develop digital computer models of the interaction between the rock and a CO2 plume, which will be tested against field measurements made at actual CO2 injection sites.

What does the research hope to achieve?

This research project will provide vital information about the impact of geology on the distribution and properties of CO2 stored deep underground. It is hoped that new computer models developed by research scientists will take us one step closer to the first industrial-scale CO2 storage project in the UK!

Research updates

See below for recent updates and resources on this research project.

null

September 2019 Conference presentation

See the presentation from our September 2019 Conference (Overview of storage theme projects) >>

null

September 2019 Conference presentation

See the presentation from our September 2019 Conference (BGS contribution to storage theme projects) >>

null

September 2019 Conference poster

See the poster presented at our September 2019 Conference >>

null

September 2019 Conference blog

See the blog by Mathilde Fajardy about this project from our September 2019 Conference >>

Research outputs

Find links to publications, datasets and any other outputs below.

null

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control

Influence of reservoir-scale heterogeneities on the growth, evolution and migration of a CO2 plume at the Sleipner Field, Norwegian North Sea

null

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control

Forensic mapping of seismic velocity heterogeneity in a CO2 layer at the Sleipner CO2 storage operation, North Sea, using time-lapse seismics

null

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control

Oxygen isotopes as a tool to quantify reservoir-scale CO2 pore-space saturation

null

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control

Using noble gas fingerprints at the Kerr Farm to assess CO2 leakage allegations linked to the Weyburn-Midale CO2 monitoring and storage project

null

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control

The inherent tracer fingerprint of captured CO2

null

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control

The physical characteristics of a CO2 seeping fault: The implications of fracture permeability for carbon capture and storage integrity

null

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control

Oxygen isotopes as a tool to quantify reservoir-scale CO2 pore-space saturation

null

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control

CO2 plume migration in underground CO2 storage: The effects of induced hydraulic gradients

null

Nature Communications

Estimating geological CO2 storage security to deliver on climate mitigation

null

Geothermics

Controls on geothermal heat recovery from a hot sedimentary aquifer in Guardbridge, Scotland: Field measurements, modelling and long term sustainability

null

Environmental science & technology

A Critical Review of State-of-the-Art and Emerging Approaches to Identify Fracking-Derived Gases and Associated Contaminants in Aquifers.

null

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control

Using noble gas fingerprints at the Kerr Farm to assess CO2 leakage allegations linked to the Weyburn-Midale CO2 monitoring and storage project

null

European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers

Chimneys And Channels: History Matching The Growing CO2 Plume At The Sleipner Storage Site

null

Chemical Geology

An experimental investigation into quantifying CO2 leakage in aqueous environments using chemical tracers

null

Environmental science & technology

A Critical Review of State-of-the-Art and Emerging Approaches to Identify Fracking-Derived Gases and Associated Contaminants in Aquifers.

null

Applied Geochemistry

The influence of oxygen isotope exchange between CO2 and H2O in natural CO2-rich spring waters: Implications for geothermometry

null

Energy Procedia

Detection and Understanding of Natural CO2 Releases in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

null

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control

Geochemical tracers for monitoring offshore CO2 stores

null

Energy Procedia

Stepping into the Same River Twice: Field Evidence for the Repeatability of a CO2 Injection Test

null

Energy Procedia

The Influence of Water-rock Reactions and O Isotope Exchange with CO2 on Water Stable Isotope Composition of CO2 Springs in SE Australia

null

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control

Structural controls on the location and distribution of CO2 emission at a natural CO2 spring in Daylesford, Australia

null

Geofluids

Geospatial Statistics Elucidate Competing Geological Controls on Natural CO 2 Seeps in Italy

null

Nature communications

Noble gases confirm plume-related mantle degassing beneath Southern Africa.

null

Scottish Journal of Geology

Low-carbon GeoEnergy resource options in the Midland Valley of Scotland, UK

null

Petroleum Geoscience

Fault seal modelling - the influence of fluid properties on fault sealing capacity in hydrocarbon and CO 2 systems

null

Solid Earth

Stress field orientation controls on fault leakage at a natural CO2reservoir

null

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

Tracing the migration of mantle CO2 in gas fields and mineral water springs in south-east Australia using noble gas and stable isotopes