CO2 Storage & Sequestration

R&D at
Durham University
Amy Clarke, Helen Foster, Jon Gluyas, Gerardo Gonzalez,
Chris Greenwell, Ben Hedley, Richard Hobbs, Simon Mathias, Nic de Paola,
Ghulam Sawar, Kate Thatcher, Fran Watson, Fred Worrall

Utrecht– June 2011

 CCS Research Themes
• Storage Site Capacity
• Storage Site Injectivity
• Storage Site Integrity
• CO2 - Enhanced Oil Recovery & Enhanced Gas Recovery
• CO2 (Mineral) Sequestration
• CCS & Public Perception

Utrecht– June 2011

 Storage Site Capacity
• UK Storage Appraisal Project (ETI, Mathias & Gluyas)
• Geological Characterisation of the Triassic Reservoirs for CO2
Storage. (PhD, Clarke)
• Can Carbon Storage Targets be Accurately Assessed using
Vintage Regional Data? (PhD, Hedley)
• Commercial projects - storage capacity (GeoEnergy Durham Ltd)

Utrecht– June 2011

 UK Storage Appraisal Project
• ETI £3.9 million from Sept 2009
for 3 years.
Based on 200 North Sea
pressure cells
• BGS, Durham University,
Element Energy Ltd,
GeoPressure Technology Ltd,
Geospatial Research Ltd, Heriot
Watt University, IC London,
RPS Energy Ltd, Senergy Ltd,
University of Edinburgh
• By May 2011 ~600 storage units
– 310 saline aquifers
– 50 water bearing closures
– 220 petroleum fields

• Publications from now.....

Utrecht– June 2011

 Triassic Reservoirs – Amy Clarke PhD
• Investigation of capacity & integrity of UKCS
Triassic Reservoirs for CO2 storage
• Hewett Field (Southern North Sea) &
Morecambe Bay (East Irish Sea Basin)
• Geological characterisation - volumetrics,
compartmentalisation, cross flow, aquifer
displacement etc

Utrecht– June 2011

Aquifer Storage – Ben Hedley PhD
• Can vintage 2D seismic data & sparse well control be used
to accurately characterise storage targets?

W E NPB

Auk

Study Site

SPB

Utrecht– June 2011

 Capacity Calculation
& EOR Potential
• GeoEnergy Durham is a University Spin-out company
designed to fit between research & consultancy
• CCS projects to date include assessment of capacity,
injectivity and EOR potential for both onshore and offshore
oilfields fields.

CO2 capacity – injectivity method – example of output

Utrecht– June 2011

 Storage Site Injectivity
• Simulating CO2 storage in fluvial-channel structures of the Triassic
Bunter Sandstone, Southern North Sea. (Postdoc Thatcher)
• Development and implementation of a simulation framework for
CO2 geological storage. (Postdoc KTP Gonzalez)
• Joule-Thomson Cooling Effect on CO2 injection (Mathias, Gluyas
et al)
• Impact of miscibility on pressure build-up during injection (Mathias,
Gluyas, Gonzalez et al)

Utrecht– June 2011

Triassic Fluvial Sandstones – Kate Thatcher postdoc
Bunter sandstone outcrop
•Fluvial channels deposited in an arid
environment of alluvial fans.
•Similar to Tarim Basin, China.
Channel widths 10s to 100s meters. Need grid cells
around 5x5 m to resolve channel structures.

80 km 3 km

Utrecht– June 2011

Role of Miscibility on Pressure Buildup
Simplifying assumptions:
Reduction in rate •Vertical pressure
increase in pressure equilibrium.
due to evaporation
of residual brine •Negligible capillary
saturation pressure.
•Constant fluid properties.
•Immiscible flow (no brine
evaporation and no CO2
dissolution).

Utrecht– June 2011

 Storage Site Integrity
• Transport of CO2 through faults. (PhD Watson)
• Experimental fluid – rock (& wellbore materials) interaction
(Greenwell, Worrall, Gluyas)
• Seismic detection-limits of CO2 (Hobbs)
• 4D VSP monitoring of a US CO2 injection site (undergrad project)
• Monitoring CO2 emplacement & storage security (Gluyas)

Utrecht– June 2011

 Transportation of CO2 Through Faults –
Fran Watson PhD
 CO2 travels through leaking fault.
 Brine (wetting fluid) prevents CO2 exiting fault.
 Wetting fluid concentration at CO2 solubility limit.
 Diffusion of CO2 in to overlying formation.
 Loss of CO2 from fault by convection enhanced dissolution

Utrecht– June 2011

 New high pressure CO2 facility
• Allows for flow reaction
• Capable of reacting up to
350oC and 20 MPa.
• Capable of reacting with
liquid, gas and supercritical
CO2.
• Core plug would be typical
sample size.
• Includes collection cups of
gas and liquid.
Utrecht– June 2011
 High pressure triaxial deformation
apparatus with fluid flow
• Evolution of transport properties
(permeability and porosity) during
CO2 injection when (1) pore
pressure conditions are altered
and (2) CO2-rich fluid-rock
interactions occur.
• Geochemical and textural
changes in reservoir and seal
rocks during CO2-rich fluid-rock
interactions.

Utrecht– June 2011

 Monitoring CO2
• Potential to use muon tomography to
map flux of CO2 in subsurface storage

Contour plot of the muon intensity change due to CO2

injection into the reservoir over a period of one year

Utrecht– June 2011

 CO2 – EOR & EGR
• UK CO2 – EOR potential calculated at 3bn bbl using analogue data
• Fractional flow studies of enhanced gas recovery with CO2. (PhD Sarwar)

Utrecht– June 2011

Carbon Sequestration – Helen Foster PhD
• Potential to use waste material from oil-shale
retorting to mineralise on reaction with critical CO2
• Part of a larger project looking at secondary
products from the process.
Existing Facility
• Capable of reacting up to
350oC and 15 MPa.
• Capable of reacting with liquid,
gas and supercritical CO2.
• Capable of reacting rock
samples of 100’s g.
• Analytical facilities to study
reacted materials.

Utrecht– June 2011

 3) CCS public perception project
• Public debate held in Newcastle on the 17th
March as part of Newcastle Science week.
• Panel of Sandy Irvine (Green Party), Jon
Gluyas (Durham Univ’), Roberta Blackman
Woods MP (Labour, Durham City) and Ross
Weddle (CoRe Co-op).
• Audience of about 45 public engaged in
1hour open debate.
• Opinions on risk, cost and benefits to region
and environment measured before and after
debate.
• To assess effectiveness of public
participation events in changing public
opinions on controversial technologies.
• Results out September 2011...

Utrecht– June 2011

 Up and coming projects & events
• Three PhD proposals with E&P to look at enhanced gas recovery with CO2.
(modelling)
• PhD/post doc proposals with transportation company to look at effects of
impurities. (lab based)
• Part funding from service company to look at low pressure reservoirs.
(modelling)
• PhD from NGI to develop hydro-mechanical simulator using COMSOL.
(modelling)
• Potentially ongoing funding from Gulf Carbon Centre.
• Jon Gluyas to chair DECC’s UK Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage
(Development Board).
• UKCCSC Carbon storage geochemistry meeting (Durham, Sept 2011)
• Joint GSL & AAPG meeting on Carbon Geostorage (London, Nov 2011)
Jon Gluyas Chairman

Utrecht– June 2011

 Summary

• Durham has established & growing CCS team

• Research areas cover
– Storage capacity, injectivity & site integrity
– EOR & EGR
– Mineral sequestration
– Social aspects
• Durham staff active in UK national centre
development & UKCCSC initiatives

Utrecht– June 2011