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Title: Effects of in situ stress measurement uncertainties on assessment of predicted seismic activity and risk associated with a hypothetical industrial-scale geologic CO 2 sequestration operation

Journal Article · · Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering
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  1. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Geosciences Division
  2. Swiss Federal Inst. of Technology (ETHZ), Zurich (Switzerland). Swiss Seismological Service
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Carbon capture and storage (CCS) in geologic formations has been recognized as a promising option for reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from large stationary sources. However, the pressure buildup inside the storage formation can potentially induce slip along preexisting faults, which could lead to felt seismic ground motion and also provide pathways for brine/CO2 leakage into shallow drinking water aquifers. To assess the geomechanical stability of faults, it is of crucial importance to know the in situ state of stress. In situ stress measurements can provide some information on the stresses acting on faults but with considerable uncertainties. In this paper, we investigate how such uncertainties, as defined by the variation of stress measurements obtained within the study area, could influence the assessment of the geomechanical stability of faults and the characteristics of potential injection-induced seismic events. Our modeling study is based on a hypothetical industrial-scale carbon sequestration project assumed to be located in the Southern San Joaquin Basin in California, USA. We assess the stability on the major (25 km long) fault that bounds the sequestration site and is subjected to significant reservoir pressure changes as a result of 50 years of CO2 injection. We also present a series of geomechanical simulations in which the resolved stresses on the fault were varied over ranges of values corresponding to various stress measurements performed around the study area. The simulation results are analyzed by a statistical approach. Our main results are that the variations in resolved stresses as defined by the range of stress measurements had a negligible effect on the prediction of the seismic risk (maximum magnitude), but an important effect on the timing, the seismicity rate (number of seismic events) and the location of seismic activity.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE). National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL) and National Risk Assessment Partnership (NRAP); Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; PZENP2_160555
OSTI ID:
1332599
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1436331
Journal Information:
Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Journal Name: Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering Vol. 8 Journal Issue: 6; ISSN 1674-7755
Publisher:
Chinese Society for Rock Mechanics and Engineering - ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
China
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration
Geomechanical simulations
Induced seismicity
Uncertainty on in situ stress