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Evaluation of Barriers to National CO₂ Geological Storage Assessments

1 February 2016
Storage

This report is the published product of a study undertaken for the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF) to assess barriers to high-level geological CO₂ storage assessments for the Clean Energy Ministerial. This review was undertaken by the CO₂ Storage team of the British Geological Survey on behalf of UK Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Korean Clean Energy Ministry to support the work of the CSLF. The review was funded by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Korean Clean Energy Ministry. The project was managed by the IEA Greenhouse Gas Research and Development Programme (IEA-GHG). The survey responses expressed and analysed in this report are based on publicly available information and the views of respondents to a questionnaire and follow-up interviews. The responses do not necessarily reflect the view of authorities or government policies for the countries included in the survey.

Technical Report

Monitoring Network Meeting

1 December 2015
Event Proceedings
Storage

The 45 presentations and 17 posters covered a range of topics, with sessions on cost-effective monitoring of large projects, permit requirements, induced seismicity, shallow monitoring, geophysical monitoring and CO₂ relationships, pressure monitoring applications, monitoring tools for shallow, surface and deep monitoring, update on projects, and post-closure monitoring. As well as the new results and developments, new at this meeting was a group-work exercise created by Sue Hovorka of the University of Texas. This involved the groups designing monitoring plans for fictional but realistic storage sites, and then these being actually tested with leakage scenarios.

Technical Report

Integrated CCS Project at SaskPower’s Boundary Dam Power Station

1 August 2015
Capture
Storage

On October 2, 2014, the first-ever, commercial–scale, coal-fired power plant incorporating amine solvent absorption carbon capture began operation near Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada. This was a global landmark event. Although carbon capture technologies had been pilot tested prior to this, a commercial– scale power plant now exists that has demonstrated that a number of high-risk technology and business issues have been overcome. This report summarizes the experience and learnings of SaskPower in a way that will hopefully provide insight to other clean-coal initiatives

Technical Report

Review of Offshore Monitoring for CCS Projects

1 July 2015
Storage

This report reviews offshore monitoring practice for CO₂ storage projects in terms of tool capabilities, logistical practicalities and costs. The focus is on large-scale ‘commercial’ storage monitoring and draws together published experience from existing large offshore CO₂ storage sites as well as monitoring research at experimental test sites and in areas of natural CO₂ seepages. The strengths and limitations of monitoring techniques, strategies and methodologies are discussed, and relevant experience from onshore sites are also included. Monitoring over the full life-cycle from pre-injection (baseline) through injection and post-injection phases to transfer of responsibility to the competent authority is considered. The review draws on selected examples of current or planned monitoring practice.

Technical Report

Criteria of Fault Geomechanical Stability

1 April 2015
Storage

Faults typically consist of two sub-structures: a fault core; and a wider fault damage zone. Faults in low porosity rocks tend to have a fine-grained fault core whereas faults in coarse-grained, high porosity rocks, usually have low porosity deformation bands that can develop into high permeable slip surfaces. Fault zone permeability increases with increasing fluid pressure but permeability varies both across and along faults. Hydraulic properties also vary between the damage zone and the core where gouge material is concentrated. This concentration of fine grained minerals also reduces the mechanical strength of faults. Mechanical failure or reactivation occurs either when shear stress exceeds normal strength or when hydraulic fracturing is induced. Fault deformation can be either brittle or ductile. The former leads to the formation of cataclastite (fine grained granular) and shear fractures which dilate under low effective normal stress that can cause permeability enhancement. With increasing shear deformation, fracture asperities are sheared off leading to gouge production and a reduction in permeability. Thus, in brittle deformation permeability will generally increase under low effective stresses and small displacements but decreases with increasing effective stress and magnitude of displacement. Shear fractures created in ductile deformation contract during shearing and tend not to lead to an increase in permeability. Reactivation of faults can be assessed using both analytical and numerical approaches, but assessment is usually based on the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. This method can be used to determine the critical injection pressure. Numerical modelling can provide predictions of fault stability at different scales and incorporate different parameters such as the geometry of different faults. Numerical methods can be effective for identifying leakage potential and seal failure especially where dilatancy and stress dependent permeability changes occur. Experimental tests on minerals and rock samples exposed to CO₂ tentatively indicate that the coefficient of friction is not radically changed, however, this conclusion is based on limited exposure to CO₂. There is limited observational data on stress regimes and direct pore pressure measurements from core samples from cap rocks and fault zones. Acquisition of key data would enhance stress regime modelling and fault behaviour.

Technical Review

Carbon Storage FY2015 Peer Review

1 April 2015
Storage

Between March 2nd and 6th, IEAGHG convened a panel of five leading academic and industry experts to conduct a five-day peer review of 12 research projects supported by the NETL Carbon Storage Program. At the conclusion of each project review, these recognized technical experts provided recommendations on how to improve the management, performance, and overall results of each individual research project. The panel was supported by Tim Dixon (Facilitator), James Craig and Samantha Neades, IEAGHG. The Carbon Storage program is focused on developing and advancing technologies to enable safe, cost-effective, permanent geologic storage of carbon dioxide (CO₂) both onshore and offshore in different depositional systems. The technologies being developed will benefit both industrial and power sector facilities that will need to mitigate future CO₂ emissions. The program also serves to increase understanding of the effectiveness of these advanced technologies and management approaches in different geologic reservoirs appropriate for CO₂ storage, and improve the ability to understand the behavior of CO₂ in the subsurface.

Technical Report

Carbon capture and storage cluster projects: review and future opportunities

1 March 2015
Capture
Storage

The study was based largely on literature in the public domain and a few enquiries to ascertain current status. Some valuable additional material was also obtained from expert reviewers of the study. Sufficient information was found to review 12 clusters in depth and a number of other less developed clusters at a more general level. Based on the results the gaps, risks and challenges faced by those developing CCS cluster projects are described. Some criteria for selecting additional cluster locations are developed and recommendations for increasing the likelihood of success are put forwards. The data and references were gathered in a working database to facilitate comparisons. A CCS cluster is taken to mean a location where the opportunity to cluster sources and/or sinks for CCS has been identified in published literature.

Technical Report

Monitoring Network and Modelling Network – Combined Meeting

1 February 2015
Event Proceedings
Storage

The objective of this project is to test near surface monitoring of CO₂ during a controlled release experiment. By monitoring released CO₂ the sensitivity of monitoring systems could be determined. Data could then be used to test and calibrate migration models under controlled conditions enabling results to be up-scaled to full-scale storage sites. The results can also be used to develop a monitoring protocol. Although this is a near-surface (<20m controlled release) deeper (100m – 300m) releases are planned.

Technical Report

CO₂ Storage Efficiency in Deep Saline Formations: A Comparison of Volumetric and Dynamic Storage resource Estimation Methods

1 October 2014
Storage

The goal of this study was to compare the volumetric and dynamic CO₂ storage resource estimation methodologies used to evaluate the storage potential of deep saline formations (DSFs). This comparison was carried out to investigate the applicability of using volumetric methods, which typically require less data and time to apply, to estimate the CO₂ storage resource potential of a given saline formation or saline system. The project goals were accomplished by applying both the volumetric and dynamic CO₂ storage resource estimation methodologies to the open-system upper Minnelusa Formation in the Powder River Basin, United States, and a closed-system comprising the Qingshankou and Yaojia Formations in the Songliao Basin, China

Technical Review

IEAGHG 2013 RCSP Peer Review Summary

1 May 2014
Storage

The 2013 international independent expert review of the RCSP had the following aims: 1. To follow up progress in addressing the recommendations of the second review in 2011 of the RCSP Initiative and their Phase III projects. 2. To assess the progress on the individual Phase III projects and consider whether the proposed technical work program for each project achieves the individual projects goals and those of the overall RCSPs. Inherent in this assessment will be the identification of any gaps or modifications that are necessary to the individual work program to address both the projects and the overall RCSP goals. 3. To assess results and key findings from the Phase III tests across the RCSP Initiative as they relate to the DOE/NETL Program goals. 4. To assess the overall technical integration of the RCSP Initiative, address the synergies between the eight Phase III projects and how they complement each other and how collectively they will provide a technical basis for future commercial scale projects in the USA. 5. To assess how the RCSP compares/compliments/contrasts with similar projects underway worldwide and how the information from these projects contributes to an international knowledge base on CO₂ capture and storage

Technical Report

Comparing Different Approaches to Managing CO₂ Storage Resources in Mature CCS Futures

1 April 2014
Storage

This report develops scenarios for CO₂ storage development in the Southern North Sea Basin to compare first-come, first-served and managed approaches to CO₂ storage site licensing. The report describes the benefits and consequences of these broad strategies for the pore space owner and the operator, and considers current approached to managing offshore and onshore storage resources (in a range of jurisdictions). A workshop was held in the early stages of the report process, which helped to evaluate approaches to the management of pore space in different jurisdictions. The following general issues were discussed at the workshop and are looked at further in the report: - The availability of storage capacity - Other uses and users of the pore space - Priorities on different uses in different jurisdictions - Potential routes to wider storage deployment - Technical regulatory challenges for storage in areas of multiple stacked storage opportunities - Risks that may arise from site interactions - Examples of pore space conflict resolution - Strategic initiatives for storage deployment. The report details potential subsurface interactions, UK policy for CO₂ storage development (including a UK Southern North Sea case study), potential interactions between two case studies in the Southern North Sea, CO₂ storage permitting in the Netherlands, CO₂ storage in Australia, the role of CO₂ enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in Texas, USA and managing the pore space in Alberta, Canada.

Technical Report

Methodologies and Technologies for Mitigation of Undesired CO₂ Migration in the Subsurface

1 December 2013
Storage

The driver behind this study is to develop a report built on the on the previous IEAGHG report on methods of leakage mitigation (2007/11). The proposed study should focus on current mitigation and remediation methods that may be applied or considered in site specific conditions in the event of unpredicted CO₂ migration. Each geological storage site will have an adaptive site specific monitoring plan, based on a risk assessment. Detection of a significant irregularity may involve supplementing the monitoring program, in order to detect a possible leak and if necessary engaging mitigation measures

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