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Sequestration and Enhanced Coal Bed Methane: Tanquary Farms Test Site, Wabash County, Illinois

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1067334· OSTI ID:1067334
The Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC) carried out a pilot project to test storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Springfield Coal Member of the Carbondale Formation (Pennsylvanian System), in order to gauge the potential for large-scale CO2 sequestration and/or enhanced coal bed methane recovery from Illinois Basin coal beds. The pilot was conducted at the Tanquary Farms site in Wabash County, southeastern Illinois. A four-well design— an injection well and three monitoring wells—was developed and implemented, based on numerical modeling and permeability estimates from literature and field data. Coal cores were taken during the drilling process and were characterized in detail in the lab. Adsorption isotherms indicated that at least three molecules of CO2 can be stored for each displaced methane (CH4) molecule. Microporosity contributes significantly to total porosity. Coal characteristics that affect sequestration potential vary laterally between wells at the site and vertically within a given seam, highlighting the importance of thorough characterization of injection site coals to best predict CO2 storage capacity.
Research Organization:
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
FC26-05NT42588
OSTI ID:
1067334
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English