High-resolution simulations of migration pathways and the related potential well risk at the IEAGHG Weyburn–Midale CO2 storage project

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. S15-S24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Cavanagh ◽  
Ben Rostron
2004 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 653 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.M. Gibson-Poole ◽  
J.E. Streit ◽  
S.C. Lang ◽  
A.L. Hennig ◽  
C.J. Otto

Potential sites for geological storage of CO2 require detailed assessment of storage capacity, containment potential and migration pathways. A possible candidate is the Flag Sandstone of the Barrow Sub-basin, northwest Australia, sealed by the Muderong Shale. The Flag Sandstone consists of a series of stacked, amalgamated, basin floor fan lobes with good lateral interconnectivity. The main reservoir sandstones have high reservoir quality with an average porosity of 21% and an average permeability of about 1,250 mD. The Muderong Shale has excellent seal capacity, with the potential to withhold an average CO2 column height of 750 m. Other containment issues were addressed by in situ stress and fault stability analysis. An average orientation of 095°N for the maximum horizontal stress was estimated. The stress regime is strike-slip at the likely injection depth (below 1,800 m). Most of the major faults in the study area have east-northeast to northeast trends and failure plots indicate that some of these faults may be reactivated if CO2 injection pressures are not monitored closely. Where average fault dips are known, maximum sustainable formation pressures were estimated to be less than 27 MPa at 2 km depth. Hydrodynamic modelling indicated that the pre-production regional formation water flow direction was from the sub-basin margins towards the centre, with an exit point to the southwest. However, this flow direction and rate have been altered by a hydraulic low in the eastern part of the sub-basin due to hydrocarbon production. The integrated site analysis indicates a potential CO2 storage capacity in the order of thousands of Mtonnes. Such capacity for geological storage could provide a technical solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 718
Author(s):  
Nick Hoffman

The CarbonNet project is making the first ever application for a ‘declaration of an identified greenhouse gas storage formation’ (similar to a petroleum location) under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act. Unlike a petroleum location, however, there is no ‘discovery’ involved in the application. Instead, a detailed technical assessment is required of the geological suitability for successful long-term storage of CO2. The key challenges to achieving a successful application relate to addressing ‘fundamental suitability determinants’ under the act and regulations. At Pelican (Gippsland Basin), a new high-resolution 3D seismic survey and over 10 nearby petroleum wells (and over 1500 basinal wells) supplement a crestal well drilled in 1967 that proved the seal and reservoir stratigraphy. The GCN18A 3D marine seismic survey has the highest spatial and frequency resolution to date in the Gippsland Basin. The survey was acquired in water depths from 15 to 35 m with a conventional eight-streamer seismic vessel, aided by LiDAR bathymetry. The 12.5 m bin size and pre-stack depth migration with multiple tomographic velocity iterations have produced an unprecedented high-quality image of the Latrobe Group reservoirs and sealing units. The 3D seismic data provides excellent structural definition of the Pelican Anticline, and the overlying Golden Beach-1A gas pool is excellent. Depositional detail of reservoir-seal pairs within the Latrobe Group has been resolved, allowing a confident assessment of petroleum gas in place and CO2 storage opportunities. The CarbonNet project is progressing with a low-risk storage concept at intra-formational level, as proven by trapped pools at nearby oil and gas fields. Laterally extensive intra-formational shales provide seals across the entire structure, providing pressure and fluid separation between the overlying shallow hydrocarbon gas pool and the deeper CO2 storage opportunity. CarbonNet is assessing this storage opportunity and progressing towards a ‘declaration of an identified greenhouse gas storage formation’.


2019 ◽  
Vol 630 ◽  
pp. A140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donatella Romano ◽  
Francesco Calura ◽  
Annibale D’Ercole ◽  
C. Gareth Few

Context. The faintest Local Group galaxies found lurking in and around the Milky Way halo provide a unique test bed for theories of structure formation and evolution on small scales. Deep Subaru and Hubble Space Telescope photometry demonstrates that the stellar populations of these galaxies are old and that the star formation activity did not last longer than 2 Gyr in these systems. A few mechanisms that may lead to such a rapid quenching have been investigated by means of hydrodynamic simulations, but these have not provided any final assessment so far. Aims. This is the first in a series of papers aimed at analyzing the roles of stellar feedback, ram pressure stripping, host-satellite tidal interactions, and reionization in cleaning the lowest mass Milky Way companions of their cold gas using high-resolution, three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations. Methods. We simulated an isolated ultrafaint dwarf galaxy loosely modeled after Boötes I, and examined whether or not stellar feedback alone could drive a substantial fraction of the ambient gas out from the shallow potential well. Results. In contrast to simple analytical estimates, but in agreement with previous hydrodynamical studies, we find that most of the cold gas reservoir is retained. Conversely, a significant amount of the metal-enriched stellar ejecta crosses the boundaries of the computational box with velocities exceeding the local escape velocity and is, thus, likely lost from the system. Conclusions. Although the total energy output from multiple supernova explosions exceeds the binding energy of the gas, no galactic-scale outflow develops in our simulations and as such, most of the ambient medium remains trapped within the weak potential well of the model galaxy. It seems thus unavoidable that to explain the dearth of gas in ultrafaint dwarf galaxies, we will have to resort to environmental effects. This will be the subject of a forthcoming paper.


SPE Journal ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (04) ◽  
pp. 1108-1118 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.. Jin ◽  
G.. Pickup ◽  
E.. Mackay ◽  
A.. Todd ◽  
M.. Sohrabi ◽  
...  

Summary Estimation of carbon dioxide (CO2)-storage capacity is a key step in the appraisal of CO2-storage sites. Different calculation methods may lead to widely diverging values. The compressibility method is a commonly used static method for estimating storage capacity of saline aquifers: It is simple, is easy to use, and requires a minimum of input data. Alternatively, a numerical reservoir simulation provides a dynamic method that includes Darcy flow calculations. More input data are required for dynamic simulation, and it is more computationally intensive, but it takes into account migration pathways and dissolution effects, so it is generally more accurate and more useful. For example, the CO2-migration plume may be used to identify appropriate monitoring techniques, and the analysis of the trapping mechanism for a certain site will help to optimize well location and the injection plan. Two hypothetical saline-aquifer storage sites in the UK, one in Lincolnshire and the other in the Firth of Forth, were analyzed. The Lincolnshire site has a comparatively simple geology, while the Forth site has a more complex geology. For each site, both static- and dynamic-capacity calculations were performed. In the static method, CO2 was injected until the average pressure reached a critical value. In the migration-monitoring case, CO2 was injected for 15 years, and was followed by a closure period lasting thousands of years. The fraction of dissolved CO2 and the fraction immobilized by pore-scale trapping were calculated. The results of both geological systems show that the migration of CO2 is strongly influenced by the local heterogeneity. The calculated storage efficiency for the Lincolnshire site varied between 0.34% and 0.65% of the total pore-volume, depending on whether the system boundaries were considered open or closed. Simulation of the deeper, more complex Forth geological system gave storage capacities as high as 1.05%. This work was part of the CO2-Aquifer-Storage Site Evaluation and Monitoring (CASSEM) integrated study to derive methodologies for assessment of CO2 storage in saline formations. Although static estimates are useful for initial assessment when fewer data are available, we demonstrate the value of performing dynamic storage calculations and the opportunities to identify mechanisms for optimizing the storage capacity.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. SB131-SB148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jared W. Kluesner ◽  
Daniel S. Brothers

Poststack data conditioning and neural-network seismic attribute workflows are used to detect and visualize faulting and fluid migration pathways within a [Formula: see text] 3D P-Cable™ seismic volume located along the Hosgri Fault Zone offshore central California. The high-resolution 3D volume used in this study was collected in 2012 as part of Pacific Gas and Electric’s Central California Seismic Imaging Project. Three-dimensional seismic reflection data were acquired using a triple-plate boomer source (1.75 kJ) and a short-offset, 14-streamer, P-Cable system. The high-resolution seismic data were processed into a prestack time-migrated 3D volume and publically released in 2014. Postprocessing, we employed dip-steering (dip and azimuth) and structural filtering to enhance laterally continuous events and remove random noise and acquisition artifacts. In addition, the structural filtering was used to enhance laterally continuous edges, such as faults. Following data conditioning, neural-network based meta-attribute workflows were used to detect and visualize faults and probable fluid-migration pathways within the 3D seismic volume. The workflow used in this study clearly illustrates the utility of advanced attribute analysis applied to high-resolution 3D P-Cable data. For example, results from the fault attribute workflow reveal a network of splayed and convergent fault strands within an approximately 1.3 km wide shear zone that is characterized by distinctive sections of transpressional and transtensional dominance. Neural-network chimney attribute calculations indicate that fluids are concentrated along discrete faults in the transtensional zones, but appear to be more broadly distributed amongst fault bounded anticlines and structurally controlled traps in the transpressional zones. These results provide high-resolution, 3D constraints on the relationships between strike-slip fault mechanics, substrate deformation, and fluid migration along an active fault system offshore central California.


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