Stanford UniversityGlobal Climate & Energy Project

Is CCS (Geological Storage) Ready for Prime Time?

Sally M. BensonEnergy Resources Engineering Dept., Stanford University

Executive Director, Global Climate and Energy Project

MIT Carbon Sequestration Forum VIIIStanford, November 11, 2007

Carbon Dioxide Capture and Geologic Storage

CaptureCapture UndergroundUndergroundInjectionInjection

PipelinePipelineTransportTransportCompressionCompression

Options for Geological Storage

Different types of formations have different states of readiness.

Key Elements of a Geological Storage Safety and Security Strategy

Regulatory Oversight

Remediation

Monitoring

Safe Operations

Storage Engineering

Site Characterization and Selection

Fundamental Storage and Leakage Mechanisms

Financial Responsibility

“… the fraction retained is likely to exceed 99% over 1,000 years.”

“ With appropriate site selectioninformed by available subsurface information, amonitoring program to detect problems, a regulatory system, and the appropriate use of remediation methods…”

IPCC, 2005IPCC, 2005

“… risks similar to existing activities such as natural gas storage and EOR.”

What Do We Need to Know?

Regulatory Oversight

Remediation

Monitoring

Safe Operations

Storage Engineering

Site Characterization and Selection

Fundamental Storage and Leakage Mechanisms

Financial Responsibility

Multi-phase flow, trapping mechanisms, geochemical interactions, geomechanics, and basin-scale hydrology

Oversight for site characterization and selection, storage system operation, safety, monitoring and contingency plans

Financial mechanisms and institutional approaches for long term stewardship (e.g. monitoring and remediation if needed)

Active and abandoned well repair, groundwater cleanup, and ecosystem restoration

Monitoring plume migration, pressure monitoring in the storage reservoir and above the seal, and surface releases

Well maintenance, conduct of operations, well-field monitoring and controls

Number and location of injection wells, strategies to maximize capacity and accelerate trapping, and well completion design

Site specific assessment of storage capacity, seal integrity, injectivity and brine migration

Is Geological Storage Ready for Prime Time?

Regulatory Oversight

Remediation

Monitoring

Safe Operations

Storage Engineering

Site Characterization and Selection

Fundamental Storage and Leakage Mechanisms

Financial Responsibility

Oil and Gas CoalbedsSaline Aquifers

Are We Ready?

State-of-the-art is well developed, scientific understanding is excellent and engineering methods are mature

Sufficient knowledge is available but practical experience is lacking, economics may be sub-optimal, scientific understanding is good

Demonstration projects are needed to advance the state-of-the art for commercial scale projects, scientific understanding is limited

Pilot projects are needed to provide proof-of-concept, scientific understanding is immature

New ideas and approaches are needed

Is Geological Storage Ready for Prime Time?

Regulatory Oversight

Remediation

Monitoring

Safe Operations

Storage Engineering

Site Characterization and Selection

Fundamental Storage and Leakage Mechanisms

Financial Responsibility

Oil and Gas CoalbedsSaline Aquifers

Multi-phase Flow and Capillary Trapping

High Pressure Pumps

Core Holder In Scanner

CO2 BrineDifferentialPressureTransducer

Pressure Data Acquisition

CO2

Brine

75 mm38 mm

10%CO2

90%CO2

100%CO2

Variable Φ, k Simulations

CO2 Saturation:0% 70%

Lab Data

Simulated CO2 SaturationsVariable Pc Produces Small-scale CO2 Saturation Variations

Variable Pc Simulations

Is Geological Storage Ready for Prime Time?

Regulatory Oversight

Remediation

Monitoring

Safe Operations

Storage Engineering

Site Characterization and Selection

Fundamental Storage and Leakage Mechanisms

Financial Responsibility

Oil and Gas CoalbedsSaline Aquifers

Site Characterization: Frio I and Frio II Pilot Tests

Injection well

Observation well

30 m

Frio Brine Pilot IFrio Brine Pilot II

From S. Hovorka, UT Austin

Injection Well

00.5

11.5

22.5

3

0 200000 400000 600000 800000 1000000

Time (s)

Δp

(bar

)

MeasuredCalculated

Is Geological Storage Ready for Prime Time?

Regulatory Oversight

Remediation

Monitoring

Safe Operations

Storage Engineering

Site Characterization and Selection

Fundamental Storage and Leakage Mechanisms

Financial Responsibility

Oil and Gas CoalbedsSaline Aquifers

0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12

Fractional Equivalent Pore Volume

Upper Quarter

Upper Half

Full

Low er Half

Low er Quarter

Original

Near shale gap

Far from shale gap

Top

Mid-depth

Bottom

srl=0.6

Mobile

Dissolved

Capillary Trapping

Geological Model Computational Grid

Reservoir Simulation

Storage Engineering: Storage Capacity and Trapping Mechanisms

Storage Capacity and Trapping

Is Geological Storage Ready for Prime Time?

Regulatory Oversight

Remediation

Monitoring

Safe Operations

Storage Engineering

Site Characterization and Selection

Fundamental Storage and Leakage Mechanisms

Financial Responsibility

Oil and Gas CoalbedsSaline Aquifers

Safety: TRC Rate for Oil and Gas Related Activities

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20TR

C/2

00,0

00 h

ours

/yea

r

10,00<employees<=31,600

25%

50%

75%

31,600<employees<=100,000

100,000<employees<=316,200

316,200<employees<=1,000,000

Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services*

Pipeline transportation of natural gas

Total Recordable Case (TRC) rate box plots for NAICS industry classes within an employment size group. Size groups shown are in thousands of employees. TRC rates for industry classes participating in the oil and gas exploration and production industry are shown.

*denotes industry class for which only 2004 rate available.

Drilling oil and gas wells

Pipeline transportation

Site preparation contractors

Support activities for oil and gas

ti *Oil and gas extraction

Utility system construction

Is Geological Storage Ready for Prime Time?

Regulatory Oversight

Remediation

Monitoring

Safe Operations

Storage Engineering

Site Characterization and Selection

Fundamental Storage and Leakage Mechanisms

Financial Responsibility

Oil and Gas CoalbedsSaline Aquifers

Monitoring: ZERT Detection Verification Facility

Detection Verification Facility(Montana State University)

80 m

Flow Controllers

Field Site

HorizontalInjection Well

Flux Tower

Soil Gas

HyperspectralImaging ofVegetation

Flux accumulation chamber

Is Geological Storage Ready for Prime Time?

Regulatory Oversight

Remediation

Monitoring

Safe Operations

Storage Engineering

Site Characterization and Selection

Fundamental Storage and Leakage Mechanisms

Financial Responsibility

Oil and Gas CoalbedsSaline Aquifers

Blowout Frequency and Management in District 4, California

District 4, California• 50,277 active wells• 18,660 shut-in wells• 36,940 abandoned wells Jordan and Benson, 2007, in preparation.

Is Geological Storage Ready for Prime Time?

Regulatory Oversight

Remediation

Monitoring

Safe Operations

Storage Engineering

Site Characterization and Selection

Fundamental Storage and Leakage Mechanisms

Financial Responsibility

Oil and Gas CoalbedsSaline Aquifers

Regulations: “Cradle to Grave Regulatory Framework”

• Interstate Oil and Gas Regulatory Commission• Seamless• Simple• Flexible and

responsive• Doable

Storage of Carbon Dioxide in Geological Structures: A Legal and Regulatory Guide for States and Provinces. September, 2007.http://www.iogcc.state.ok.us/docs/MeetingDocs/Master-Document-September-252007-FINAL-(2).pdf

Is Geological Storage Ready for Prime Time?

Regulatory Oversight

Remediation

Monitoring

Safe Operations

Storage Engineering

Site Characterization and Selection

Fundamental Storage and Leakage Mechanisms

Financial Responsibility

Oil and Gas CoalbedsSaline Aquifers

Quantitative Assessment of Long Term Liability and Risk Management Strategies

Injectionbegins

Injection stops

2 x injection period

3 x injection period

n x injection period

Monitor

Model

Calibrate&

ValidateModels

Calibrate&

ValidateModels

Pressure recoverySecondary trapping mechanismsConfidence in predictive models

Hea

lth S

afet

y an

d E

nviro

nmen

tal R

isk

Conclusions

• Is CCS Ready for Prime Time?– Oil and gas reservoirs: Yes– Saline aquifers: Ready for commercial scale

demonstration projects– Coalbeds: Ready for pilot scale tests

• Readiness of storage safety and security strategy Operational safety

Monitoring

Fundamental science, remediation, and site selection

Storage engineering, regulatory oversight

Long term financial responsibility

Conclusions

• One persons opinion—mine • Engage scientific, engineering and

regulatory community to assess state-of-the-art

• Support deployment of demonstration projects now

• Identify high impact areas– Fundamental and applied research– Pilot projects