Geologic Carbon Sequestration News

In the United States alone, Geologic Carbon Sequestration has a multitude of projects at various stages of completion. Recently, the DOE Midwest Partnership announced successful completion of CO2 injection at the East Bend Site located near Rabbit Hash, Boone County, Kentucky. Now that the actual injection has been completed, the area will still be monitored to determine the suitability of future injection or whether the well should be capped for permanent closure. This project, although started three years ago, is just a small scale test site. For more information on the East Bend Project, the formal announcement (as seen in the Carbon Capture Journal) of successful injection has been included. For an overall picture of the project, see the Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (MRCSP) website at http://216.109.210.162/CincinnatiArch.aspx.

In addition, another article from the Carbon Capture Journal has been included. This article is about the CO2 Capture Project (CCP). Although there are many publicly funded programs, CCP is a partnership of the world’s leading energy companies. Just as publicly funded partnerships include other resources; this partnership utilizes academic institutions and government agencies. As apparent from this introduction, in order for Geologic Carbon Sequestration and Carbon Capture to be viable options for our future, all of these partnerships and projects are essential. Sharing this information is for the greater good of the technology and our future. The article about CCP details their recent findings and introduces a publication - Advances in CO2 Capture and Storage Technology.

DOE Midwest Partnership completes CO2 injection
Storage, Oct 21 2009 (Carbon Capture Journal)

- The Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (MRCSP) has successfully injected 1,000 metric tons of CO2 into the Mount Simon Sandstone.

The formation is a deep saline formation that is widespread across much of the Midwest.

Preliminary results indicate that the formation has good CO2 storage potential and could possibly serve as a repository for CO2 emissions captured from stationary sources in the region, says the DOE.

In the controlled test, members of the MRCSP research team injected liquefied CO2 at Duke Energy’s East Bend Generating Station, located along the Ohio River near the town of Rabbit Hash in Boone County, Kentucky.

The CO2 was injected into the lowest 100 feet of the Mount Simon Sandstone, which is present at the East Bend site at approximately 3,230 to 3,530 feet below ground. The formation has properties that are considered conducive to CO2 storage, such as the appropriate depth, thickness, porosity, and permeability; in addition the formation is overlain by layers of low-permeability rock that should keep the CO2 safely and permanently confined.

Before drilling the test well, the partnership conducted a seismic survey at the site and obtained permits for the injection test from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Kentucky Division of Oil and Gas. The research team then injected clean brine, as required in the permit issued by the EPA, to determine formation properties such as the maximum safe injection pressure.

Following brine injection, a total of approximately 1,000 metric tons of CO2 were injected in two 500-metric-ton steps, concluding on September 25th. The injection rate, pressure, temperature, and quantity of CO2 in the formation were measured throughout the test to confirm that the injection proceeded as planned.

Over the next two years, the MRSCP team will monitor groundwater at the site to ensure that it is unaffected by the CO2. Underground sources of drinking water are located within a few hundred feet of the surface in the region, far above the injection zone. The Eau Clair Shale provides approximately 450 feet of containment above the injection zone, thereby ensuring the safety of drinking water supplies.

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CO2 Capture Project releases latest findings
Projects / Policy, Oct  20  2009 (Carbon Capture Journal)

- The CO2 Capture Project (CCP) presented 'breakthrough findings' gained from the last five years of its research at the third Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF).

The studies undertaken by the CCP confirm that the safe, long-term geological storage of CO2 is achievable; they draw on the decades of experience that the oil & gas industry has of storing and monitoring gases and liquids underground.

Capture of CO2 emissions is shown to be technically and economically possible using a range of methods which have undergone thorough testing.

The CCP’s findings, from the second phase of its work, are set out in a new book - Advances in CO2 Capture and Storage Technology - part of a series entitled CO2 Capture for Storage in Deep Geologic Formations.

Highlights include:

R&D studies that addressed outstanding issues confirm that CO2 can be stored underground safely and securely. They include:

- A Well Integrity Field Study shows that selecting the correct drilling and installation procedures is more important than the choice of materials for long term well stability, and thus secure long-term subsurface storage

- A Certification Framework, developed to provide a simple, transparent guide to site certification; essential to help decision makers to manage the CO2 storage process

- Outstanding technical progress was achieved following an in-depth review of more than 200 capture technologies. About 10 technologies, covering the whole range of techniques (post-combustion, precombustion, oxy-fuel), and applicable to varied point sources, were developed from concept and are now being evaluated for potential demonstration:

- Identification of a preferred CO2 capture method for oil refineries - Oxy-fuel combustion has been shown to offer the greatest potential, both technically and economically, for capturing CO2 emitted by the largest source in oil refineries, the Fluid Catalytic Cracking unit (FCC). A pilot test in an industrial scale refinery is scheduled for next year

- Potential for CO2 capture from extraction of heavy oil and tar sands – a novel advanced oxy-firing technology - chemical looping combustion (CLC) - has been developed, which has the technical and economical potential in the mid-term for scaling up to capture CO2 from heavy oil and tar sand steam extraction processes

- Post-combustion identified as most likely short-term option for capturing CO2 from gas fired power stations, although pre-combustion may be more viable in the medium-term.

The findings are the result of a major collaborative effort between the members of CCP including eight oil & gas majors and government bodies including the EU, the US Department of Energy, the Norwegian Research Council and 60 academic institutions, industry and leading environmental groups.

Over 150 projects have been undertaken by the CCP, to date, to increase understanding of the science, engineering applications and economics of CCS.

The CCP is now entering its third phase – using insights from the first two phases to further test and trial high potential technologies. This work will prepare the ground for widespread deployment of these technologies throughout the oil and gas industry and the power sector.

This article includes publically available information, and was assembled by Rachel Shanteau, Acacia Environmental Group LLC. For more information on the author see here.