scholarly journals Techno-Economic Aspects of Noble Gases as Monitoring Tracers

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 3433
Author(s):  
Ulrich Weber ◽  
Niko Kampman ◽  
Anja Sundal
Keyword(s):  
Noble Gases ◽  
Noble Gas ◽  
Co2 Storage ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Storage Site ◽  
Hydrocarbon Gases ◽  
Elemental Ratios ◽  
Geochemical Tracers ◽  
Geological Co2 Storage ◽  
Naturally Occurring

A comprehensive monitoring program is an integral part of the safe operation of geological CO2 storage projects. Noble gases can be used as geochemical tracers to detect a CO2 anomaly and identify its origin, since they display unique signatures in the injected CO2 and naturally occurring geological fluids and gases of the storage site complex. In this study, we assess and demonstrate the suitability of noble gases in source identification of CO2 anomalies even when natural variability and analytical uncertainties are considered. Explicitly, injected CO2 becomes distinguishable from shallow fluids (e.g., subsea gas seeps) due to its inheritance of the radiogenic signature (e.g., high He) of deep crustal fluids by equilibration with the formation water. This equilibration also results in the CO2 inheriting a distinct Xe concentration and Xe/noble gas elemental ratios, which enable the CO2 to be differentiated from deep crustal hydrocarbon gases that may be in the vicinity of a storage reservoir. However, the derivation has uncertainties that may make the latter distinction less reliable. These uncertainties would be best and most economically addressed by coinjection of Xe with a distinct isotope ratio into the CO2 stream. However, such a tracer addition would add significant cost to monitoring programs of currently operating storage projects by up to 70% (i.e., from 1 $US/t to 1.7 $US/t).

scholarly journals Managing Uncertainty in Geological CO2 Storage Using Bayesian Evidential Learning

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1557
Author(s):  
Amine Tadjer ◽  
Reidar B. Bratvold
Keyword(s):  
Uncertainty Quantification ◽  
History Matching ◽  
Co2 Storage ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Co2 Injection ◽  
Drinking Water Contamination ◽  
Model Inversion ◽  
Geological Co2 Storage ◽  
And Storage

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been increasingly looking like a promising strategy to reduce CO2 emissions and meet the Paris agreement’s climate target. To ensure that CCS is safe and successful, an efficient monitoring program that will prevent storage reservoir leakage and drinking water contamination in groundwater aquifers must be implemented. However, geologic CO2 sequestration (GCS) sites are not completely certain about the geological properties, which makes it difficult to predict the behavior of the injected gases, CO2 brine leakage rates through wellbores, and CO2 plume migration. Significant effort is required to observe how CO2 behaves in reservoirs. A key question is: Will the CO2 injection and storage behave as expected, and can we anticipate leakages? History matching of reservoir models can mitigate uncertainty towards a predictive strategy. It could prove challenging to develop a set of history matching models that preserve geological realism. A new Bayesian evidential learning (BEL) protocol for uncertainty quantification was released through literature, as an alternative to the model-space inversion in the history-matching approach. Consequently, an ensemble of previous geological models was developed using a prior distribution’s Monte Carlo simulation, followed by direct forecasting (DF) for joint uncertainty quantification. The goal of this work is to use prior models to identify a statistical relationship between data prediction, ensemble models, and data variables, without any explicit model inversion. The paper also introduces a new DF implementation using an ensemble smoother and shows that the new implementation can make the computation more robust than the standard method. The Utsira saline aquifer west of Norway is used to exemplify BEL’s ability to predict the CO2 mass and leakages and improve decision support regarding CO2 storage projects.

scholarly journals 3-D reflection seismic imaging of the Hontomín structure in the Basque-Cantabrian Basin (Spain)

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 1575-1614
Author(s):  
J. Alcalde ◽  
D. Martí ◽  
C. Juhlin ◽  
A. Malehmir ◽  
D. Sopher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Co2 Storage ◽  
Processing Parameters ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Storage Site ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Velocity Inversion ◽  
Geological Co2 Storage ◽  
Reflection Seismic ◽  
Carbonate Formations ◽  
Basque Cantabrian Basin

Abstract. The Basque-Cantabrian Basin of the Northern Iberia peninsula constitutes a unique example of a major deformation system, featuring a dome structure developed by extensional tectonics followed by compressional reactivation. The occurrence of natural resources in the area and the possibility of establishing a geological storage site for carbon dioxide motivated the acquisition of a 3-D seismic reflection survey in 2010, centered on the Jurassic Hontomín dome. The objectives of this survey were to obtain a geological model of the overall structure and to establish a baseline model for a possible geological CO2 storage site. The 36 km2 survey included approximately 5000 mixed (Vibroseis and explosives) source points recorded with a 25 m inline source and receiver spacing. The target reservoir is a saline aquifer, at approximately 1450 m depth, encased and sealed by carbonate formations. Acquisition and processing parameters were influenced by the rough topography and relatively complex geology. A strong near surface velocity inversion is evident in the data, affecting the quality of the data. The resulting 3-D image provides constraints on the key features of the geologic model. The Hontomín structure is interpreted to consist of an approximately 107 m2 large elongated dome with two major W–E and NW–SE striking faults bounding it.

Global sensitivity analysis for crosswell seismic and neutron-capture measurements in CO2 storage projects

Geophysics ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. WB77-WB87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikita Chugunov ◽  
Yusuf Bilgin Altundas ◽  
T. S. Ramakrishnan ◽  
Ozgur Senel
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Neutron Capture ◽  
Global Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Co2 Storage ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Storage Site ◽  
Seismic Responses ◽  
Global Sensitivity ◽  
First Arrival

Quantification of reservoir uncertainty is an essential part of a monitoring design. A systematic approach that quantitatively links predicted uncertainties in a monitoring program to the underlying reservoir variability is, however, needed. We developed a methodology for quantifying uncertainty in crosswell seismic monitoring combined with neutron-capture logging and applied global sensitivity analysis (GSA) to compute and rank contributions of uncertain reservoir parameters to the predicted uncertainty of the measurements. The workflow is illustrated by a numerical study using a simplified model of a [Formula: see text] storage site where crosswell measurements have not actually been taken. Synthetic seismic responses are computed through the integration of multiphase flow, a new thermodynamically consistent fluid substitution model, and a fast marching eikonal solver. We quantified uncertainty in first-arrival times to illustrate the potential utility of crosswell seismic surveys and their limitation. Consistent with these calculations, uncertainties in neutron capture cross-section logs are also computed and related to predicted [Formula: see text] migration. The predicted uncertainty range for neutron-capture measurements indicated significant sensitivity to the uncertainty of the reservoir properties (standard deviations [STDs] of up to 6 c.u. in the injector and up to 3.5 c.u. in the monitoring well). However, the STD of predicted time-lapse crosswell seismic responses for two different source locations did not exceed 0.75 ms during the life of the project, suggesting limited value of first-arrival measurements for reservoir-parameter inversion in this case. With the time-dependent uncertainty of the predicted measurements, calculated GSA indices provided a quantitative basis for the monitoring program design. Practical implications of GSA results for model reduction and subsequent inversion were also evaluated.

scholarly journals An overview of the monitoring program design for the FutureGen 2.0 CO2 storage site

2016 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 193-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vince R. Vermeul ◽  
James E. Amonette ◽  
Chris E. Strickland ◽  
Mark D. Williams ◽  
Alain Bonneville
Keyword(s):  
Program Design ◽  
Co2 Storage ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Storage Site

Noble gases and carbon isotopes in natural gas samples from seismic active areas of southern Apennines (Italy)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dario Buttitta ◽  
Michele Paternoster
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Noble Gases ◽  
Noble Gas ◽  
Small Range ◽  
Southern Apennines ◽  
Mixing Processes ◽  
Geochemical Tracers ◽  
Basic Model ◽  
Main Component ◽  
Natural Gas Emissions

<p>In seismic active areas, the primary composition of natural gas emissions can be modified upon migration to the surface and storage in crustal reservoirs as the result of secondary chemical processes at shallow levels that can change the pristine composition of the fluids creating misunderstanding in the evaluation of the contributions due to different sources. Noble gases are among the most powerful indicators of such natural processes.  In particular, Helium (hereafter He) is a reliable geochemical tracer for discriminating the crustal and mantle components in the outgassing gases due to the different origin of its two isotopes (<sup>3</sup>He has a primordial origin, whereas <sup>4</sup>He is continuously produced by radioactive α-decay of <sup>235,238</sup>U and <sup>232</sup>Th).  Therefore, the <sup>3</sup>He/<sup>4</sup>He ratio is considered one of the most efficient geochemical tracers, whose variations can be directly ascribed to magmatic/crustal dynamics and therefore it is of primary importance in volcanic and seismic forecasting. In this study, we report chemical and isotopic (helium and carbon) data of gases and water emitted from three areas characterized by a high seismic hazard and located within the southern Apennines seismogenic belt. Through two fieldwork campaigns in 2019-2020, about 15 sites were inspected. Carbon dioxide is the main component in most of investigated sites (> 90 vol.%), except for Pozzo Tramutola, that is CH<sub>4</sub>-dominated. He and N<sub>2</sub> concentrations are significantly variable (from 6 to 260 ppm and from 0.22 to 12.78 vol%, respectively). In agreement to previous investigations (Italiano et al., 2001; Caracausi and Paternoster, 2015), the sites in the Matese area are characterised by typical metamorphic [MOU1] N<sub>2</sub> values and low content of He and Ar and seem to be the result of mixing processes between crustal and/or metamorphic and atmospheric or ASW end-member. The sampled fluids have <sup>3</sup>He/<sup>4</sup>He ratios from 0.02 to 2.92 Ra with corresponding He/Ne ratios in the range of 0.353-508.10. These <sup>4</sup>He/<sup>20</sup>Ne ratios are much higher than the same ratio in the atmosphere (He/Ne=0.318; Ozima-Podosek, 2002) supporting that atmospheric He component in the sampled fluids is negligible for most sites. In general, we recognized that <sup>3</sup>He/<sup>4</sup>He ratios indicate mixing between radiogenic and mantle end-members and Mefite site has highest mantle values that are close to the ratio at Mt Vesuvio and Pleghreian volcanic systems (< 60 from the study area). The <sup>40</sup>Ar/<sup>36</sup>Ar ratios show a small range from values close to atmosphere up to <sup>40</sup>Ar/<sup>36</sup>Ar = 325. We also investigated the carbon species and their isotopes. To investigate the genetic origins of the methane we have used web-based machine learning tool that determines the origin of natural gases (Snodgrass-Milkov, 2020) and the results shown that methane is mainly thermogenic even if we also recognized an abiotic component in a few of sites. This study will provide data for the reconstruction of a basic model for interpreting the relationships between outgassing and tectonics, and further for interpreting possible seismic-induced variation</p><p>Ozima & Podosek. 2002. Noble Gas Geochemistry.</p><p>Tsunogai & Wakita. 1995. Science</p><p>Snodgrass and Milkov, 2020. Comput. Geosci</p>

scholarly journals 3-D reflection seismic imaging of the Hontomín structure in the Basque–Cantabrian Basin (Spain)

Solid Earth ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 481-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Alcalde ◽  
D. Martí ◽  
C. Juhlin ◽  
A. Malehmir ◽  
D. Sopher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Co2 Storage ◽  
Processing Parameters ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Storage Site ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Velocity Inversion ◽  
Geological Co2 Storage ◽  
Reflection Seismic ◽  
Carbonate Formations ◽  
Basque Cantabrian Basin

Abstract. The Basque–Cantabrian Basin of the northern Iberia Peninsula constitutes a unique example of a major deformation system, featuring a dome structure developed by extensional tectonics followed by compressional reactivation. The occurrence of natural resources in the area and the possibility of establishing a geological storage site for carbon dioxide motivated the acquisition of a 3-D seismic reflection survey in 2010, centered on the Jurassic Hontomín dome. The objectives of this survey were to obtain a geological model of the overall structure and to establish a baseline model for a possible geological CO2 storage site. The 36 km2 survey included approximately 5000 mixed (Vibroseis and explosives) source points recorded with a 25 m inline source and receiver spacing. The target reservoir is a saline aquifer, at approximately 1450 m depth, encased and sealed by carbonate formations. Acquisition and processing parameters were influenced by the rough topography and relatively complex geology. A strong near-surface velocity inversion is evident in the data, affecting the quality of the data. The resulting 3-D image provides constraints on the key features of the geologic model. The Hontomín structure is interpreted to consist of an approximately 107 m2 large elongated dome with two major (W–E and NW–SE) striking faults bounding it. Preliminary capacity estimates indicate that about 1.2 Gt of CO2 can be stored in the target reservoir.

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