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Title: Using Pressure and Volumetric Approaches to Estimate CO2 Storage Capacity in Deep Saline Aquifers

Abstract

Various approaches are used to evaluate the capacity of saline aquifers to store CO2, resulting in a wide range of capacity estimates for a given aquifer. The two approaches most used are the volumetric “open aquifer” and “closed aquifer” approaches. We present four full-scale aquifer cases, where CO2 storage capacity is evaluated both volumetrically (with “open” and/or “closed” approaches) and through flow modeling. These examples show that the “open aquifer” CO2 storage capacity estimation can strongly exceed the cumulative CO2 injection from the flow model, whereas the “closed aquifer” estimates are a closer approximation to the flow-model derived capacity. An analogy to oil recovery mechanisms is presented, where the primary oil recovery mechanism is compared to CO2 aquifer storage without producing formation water; and the secondary oil recovery mechanism (water flooding) is compared to CO2 aquifer storage performed simultaneously with extraction of water for pressure maintenance. This analogy supports the finding that the “closed aquifer” approach produces a better estimate of CO2 storage without water extraction, and highlights the need for any CO2 storage estimate to specify whether it is intended to represent CO2 storage capacity with or without water extraction.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [3]
  1. Total, Pau (France)
  2. Alberta Innovates Technology Futures, Edmonton (Canada)
  3. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  4. British Geological Survey, Nottingham (United Kingdom)
  5. TNO, Utrecht (Netherlands)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1207904
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Energy Procedia (Online)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 63; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 1876-6102
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
58 GEOSCIENCES; carbon dioxide geological storage; saline aquifer; capacity estimation; storage efficiency; Basal Cambrian Sandstone; Mount Simon Sandstone; Bunter Sandstone; Rotliegend Sandstone

Citation Formats

Thibeau, Sylvain, Bachu, Stefan, Birkholzer, Jens, Holloway, Sam, Neele, Filip, and Zhou, Quanlin. Using Pressure and Volumetric Approaches to Estimate CO2 Storage Capacity in Deep Saline Aquifers. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2014.11.560.
Thibeau, Sylvain, Bachu, Stefan, Birkholzer, Jens, Holloway, Sam, Neele, Filip, & Zhou, Quanlin. Using Pressure and Volumetric Approaches to Estimate CO2 Storage Capacity in Deep Saline Aquifers. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2014.11.560
Thibeau, Sylvain, Bachu, Stefan, Birkholzer, Jens, Holloway, Sam, Neele, Filip, and Zhou, Quanlin. 2014. "Using Pressure and Volumetric Approaches to Estimate CO2 Storage Capacity in Deep Saline Aquifers". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2014.11.560. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1207904.
@article{osti_1207904,
title = {Using Pressure and Volumetric Approaches to Estimate CO2 Storage Capacity in Deep Saline Aquifers},
author = {Thibeau, Sylvain and Bachu, Stefan and Birkholzer, Jens and Holloway, Sam and Neele, Filip and Zhou, Quanlin},
abstractNote = {Various approaches are used to evaluate the capacity of saline aquifers to store CO2, resulting in a wide range of capacity estimates for a given aquifer. The two approaches most used are the volumetric “open aquifer” and “closed aquifer” approaches. We present four full-scale aquifer cases, where CO2 storage capacity is evaluated both volumetrically (with “open” and/or “closed” approaches) and through flow modeling. These examples show that the “open aquifer” CO2 storage capacity estimation can strongly exceed the cumulative CO2 injection from the flow model, whereas the “closed aquifer” estimates are a closer approximation to the flow-model derived capacity. An analogy to oil recovery mechanisms is presented, where the primary oil recovery mechanism is compared to CO2 aquifer storage without producing formation water; and the secondary oil recovery mechanism (water flooding) is compared to CO2 aquifer storage performed simultaneously with extraction of water for pressure maintenance. This analogy supports the finding that the “closed aquifer” approach produces a better estimate of CO2 storage without water extraction, and highlights the need for any CO2 storage estimate to specify whether it is intended to represent CO2 storage capacity with or without water extraction.},
doi = {10.1016/j.egypro.2014.11.560},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1207904}, journal = {Energy Procedia (Online)},
issn = {1876-6102},
number = C,
volume = 63,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Dec 31 00:00:00 EST 2014},
month = {Wed Dec 31 00:00:00 EST 2014}
}

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Cited by: 16 works
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Works referenced in this record:

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Cost Implications of Uncertainty in CO2 Storage Resource Estimates: A Review
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