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CO₂ Storage Efficiency in Deep Saline Formations - Stage 2

1 January 2018
Storage

A key determinant for CO₂ storage in deep saline formations (DSFs) is dynamic efficiency (E factor) – that is the effect that increased pressure caused by fluid injection has on the storage capacity of a formation. The storage capacity will always be limited by the pressure limit imposed by the geomechanical strength of the caprock, which is defined as the fracture pressure. If a formation is bounded by faults or other low permeability barriers, then excess pressure could limit the dynamic efficiency, a condition referred to as a closed boundary. In contrast formations that extend over several 100 square kilometres without significant barriers can enable pressure to be dissipated, a condition known as an open boundary. In a previous study commissioned by IEAGHG the effects of dynamic efficiency were compared between two contrasting onshore basins (one open and the other closed), but over a long hypothetical time-scale of 2,000 years. Although the previous study showed the effects of boundary conditions, the dynamic efficiency was based on very large areas extending of several thousands of square kilometres. The results did not reflect the more likely conditions of much shorter timescales and injection over limited areas that would be experienced in early CO₂ storage sites. The aim of this second study is to improve the estimated dynamic storage of DSFs based on a modelled 50 year injection period and over comparatively limited areas of ~1,000 km2. Two well researched formations were selected: one from an onshore basin (the Minnelusa Formation in the USA) and the other form an offshore basin (the Bunter Formation in the North Sea). This study also includes a cost development model to determine how the number of wells affects the cost-effectiveness of each storage site.

Technical Report

Valuing Flexibility in Power Plants

1 December 2017
Capture

The study was designed to investigate the value of flexible CCS-equipped power plants to the UK’s electricity system. The value used, the System Value (or SV), is a metric that quantifies the benefit, i.e. the reduction in total system cost, of adding a unit of a particular technology to the electricity grid. To operate effectively, an electricity grid must not only have adequate generating capacity to meet demand but also have reliable reserve generation capacity (e.g. as back-up for outages) and sufficient system inertia (for frequency control). While supply-side (e.g. energy storage) or demand-side (e.g. energy efficiency) mechanisms may offer alternatives to grid expansion, adding new capacity remains a central requirement for any grid, e.g. as power plants are retired and/or demand increases. Since not all technologies provide the same services to the grid, the value of adding a unit of a particular technology will be a function, at any given time, not just of the incremental increase in power demand that it may satisfy but also of the characteristics of the technologies already connected.

Technical Report

12th IEAGHG Monitoring Network Meeting

1 November 2017
Event Proceedings
Storage

The theme for this meeting was ‘The Cost and Value-effectiveness of Monitoring: what key drivers are required to deliver an optimum outcome’. Sessions included project updates, the application of oil and gas production experience, innovative monitoring techniques, offshore monitoring developments, overburden research including controlled release experiments, wellbore integrity and micro-seismicity. Delegates also took part in a group exercise on how to respond to a hypothetical leak scenario. The meeting highlighted the impressive advances that have been made in the use of fibre-optic distributed acoustic sensors (DAS) at projects, including helical configured cables, to overcome the limitations of directional signals. The technology is now under trial at pilot CO2 storage sites.

Technical Report

CCS deployment in the context of regional developments

1 August 2017
Policy & Regulation

The aim of this study was to characterise key countries and regions worldwide where carbon capture and storage (CCS) could play an important role in mitigation efforts, based on national circumstances and priorities. An additional objective was to identify how international frameworks, such as the UNFCCC, can support CCS and what these new architectures would mean with respect to development of nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

Technical Report

CO₂ Migration in the Overburden

1 August 2017
Storage

This report documents the subsurface processes that may enable CO₂ to potentially migrate from the storage reservoir to within the overburden sequence. The potential rates of migration for each migration pathway and the implications for leakage are discussed. Secondary trapping mechanisms within the overburden are also discussed within the report. The conclusions are focused on tying overburden characteristics to their impact on developing risk assessments. As well as specific pathway structures, five CO₂ storage projects were selected for this review and the characteristics of the overburden sequence that promote trapping and hinder migration at each site are a summarised. The projects chosen were the offshore Sleipner and Snøhvit CO₂ storage projects, the planned storage site in the Goldeneye Field, the onshore Ketzin pilot CO₂ injection project in Germany and the Field Research Station in Canada.

Technical Report

Proceedings of US DOE Workshop

1 June 2017
Event Proceedings

The aim of the workshop was to review the representation of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and advanced fossil technologies in integrated assessment models (IAMs). IAMs are computer models and can range in the mathematical methods that underpin them, but largely they incorporate representations of the energy system, the economy and earth systems into one IAM. These computational models are then used at global, national and city scales to gain insights into energy and economic system dynamics under various constraints, e.g. from government policy, from socio-economics and from the environment. IAMs are widely used in energy and climate change mitigation scenario analysis to develop technology roadmaps and inform policy pathways.

Technical Report

Techno - Economic Evaluation of SMR Based Standalone (Merchant) Hydrogen Plant with CCS

1 February 2017
Capture
Costs of CCUS

This study aimed to provide baseline information presenting the performance and costs of incorporating the CO2 capture technologies to a SMR based hydrogen plant operating as merchant plant (as a standalone plant). The basis of the design of the hydrogen production process are presented in the main report. These are briefly described in this overview. The selection of technology options for CO2 capture is based on the available information and performance data that could be provided by equipment manufacturers and suppliers.

Technical Report

Techno-Economic Evaluation of HYCO Plant Integrated to Ammonia / Urea or Methanol Production with CCS

1 February 2017
Capture
Costs of CCUS

The ammonia and methanol industry is an allied industry very related to the production of hydrogen or HyCO gas. Globally, around 60% of the produced hydrogen is consumed by these industries. Outside China, production of these chemicals from natural gas is predominant. In fact, the production of ammonia and methanol is always an important strategy on how natural gas assets are monetised. An important aspects of this study is to demonstrate how an SMR based hydrogen/HyCO production is integrated to an industrial complex. Furthermore, it is essential to understand the different aspects of the production process and how will it be affected when additional CO2 is captured from the SMR’s flue gas. IEAGHG has commissioned this study to evaluate the performance and cost of deploying CO2 capture and storage in mega-plants producing urea and methanol from natural gas as feedstock. The results presented in this study should form the basis of future studies in industrial CCS and CCU.

Technical Report

CO₂ Capture in Natural Gas Production by Adsorption Processes for CO₂ Storage, EOR and EGR

1 February 2017
Capture
Costs of CCUS

The aim of this work was to evaluate PSA processes for removal of CO₂ from NG at high pressure. For this, the study performed a techno-economic comparison of a PSA with an amine based solvent process and identified candidate materials for the PSA process.

Technical Report

Monitoring & Modelling Meeting

1 February 2017
Event Proceedings
Storage

The combined meeting of the IEAGHG Monitoring and Modelling Networks took place at the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation from the 6-8th July 2016. The meeting brought together leading experts from research and industry to discuss the latest work and developments, with around 60 participants from 11 countries participating.The theme for this meeting was ‘using the modelling-monitoring loop to demonstrate storage performance more effectively’. Sessions on monitoring included induced seismicity, novel monitoring techniques, monitoring costs, near-surface natural variability, monitoring CO2-EOR, wellbore integrity issues, modelling environmental conditions, updates from ongoing and closed projects, lessons from other industries, modelling reservoirs and overburden, pressure measurements and conformance in the monitoring modelling loop.

Technical Report

Case Studies of CO₂ Storage in Depleted Oil and Gas Fields

1 January 2017
Storage

CO₂ storage has now been tested at a number of demonstration sites around the world, including some depleted oil and gas reservoirs. The use of depleted reservoirs can offer some advantages because the geological characteristics that are pertinent to CO₂ storage, such as the distribution of porosity and permeability, have been pre-determined. Although depleted hydrocarbon fields can show strong evidence of fluid retention, there are risks associated with existing wellbores and the possibility of caprock deterioration. The aim of this study is to highlight key factors that influence CO2 storage in depleted oil and gas fields based on four detailed examples. Comparisons were made between storage operations in depleted fields (with or without enhanced hydrocarbon recovery) and storage in saline aquifers with the approaches required in modelling, monitoring, reporting, economics, and operational strategies. Fundamental differences in the reservoir pressure and risk profiles between the different storage sites have been explored. These studies have also allowed a comparative assessment to be made of the requirements for CO₂ storage projects from different geographic and regulatory regimes. The work was led by the British Geological Survey with support from the Gulf Coast Carbon Center based at the University of Texas at Austin.

Technical Report

Techno-Economic Evaluation of Retrofitting ccs in a market pulp mill and an integrated pulp and board mill

1 December 2016
Capture
Costs of CCUS

This study assessed two hypothetical reference mills situated in the west coast of Finland as a basis for evaluation. The pulp mill (Base Case 1A) has an annual production of 800,000 adt of bleached softwood Kraft pulp (BSKP) which is sold as market pulp. The integrated pulp and board mill (Base Case 1B) has an annual production of 400,000 adt of board. This mill also consumes 60,000 adt/y of the softwood Kraft pulp that it produces, thus only 740,000 adt/y of BSKP is sold to the market. This study aims to evaluate the performance and cost of retrofitting post-combustion CO₂ capture technology to the pulp mill and understand its implication on the mill’s operation in terms of fuel balance, utility requirements (i.e. steam and electricity balance) and the mill’s financial performance.

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