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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database

Environmental Geosciences (DEG)

Abstract

Environmental Geosciences, V. 13, No. 2 (June 2006), P. 85-103.

Copyright copy2006. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists/Division of Environmental Geosciences. All rights reserved.

DOI:10.1306/eg.11230505010

Geomechanical aspects of CO2 sequestration in a deep saline reservoir in the Ohio River Valley region

Amie Lucier,1 Previous HitMarkNext Hit Previous HitZobackNext Hit,2 Neeraj Gupta,3 T. S. Ramakrishnan4

1Department of Geophysics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305; [email protected]
2Department of Geophysics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305
3Battelle Memorial Institute, 505 King Ave., Columbus, Ohio 432201-2693
4Schlumberger-Doll Research, 36 Old Quarry Rd., Ridgefield, Connecticut 06877

AUTHORS

Amie Lucier is a Ph.D. candidate in geophysics at Stanford University. She is a research assistant in the Stress and Crustal Mechanics Group investigating geomechanical questions related to CO2 sequestration, mining, and the petroleum industry. She received her M.S. degree (2004) in geophysics from Stanford University and her B.S. degree (2002) in geology from Washington and Lee University.

Previous HitMarkNext Hit Previous HitZobackTop is the Benjamin M. Page Professor of Earth Sciences and professor of geophysics at Stanford University. His principal research interests are related to the forces that act within the Earth's crust and their influence on processes related to plate tectonics, earthquakes, oil and gas reservoirs, and CO2 sequestration.

Neeraj Gupta is a research leader in the Environmental Technology Department at the Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio. He received a Ph.D. in hydrogeology from Ohio State University, an M.S. degree in geochemistry from George Washington University, and M.Sc. and B.Sc. degrees in geology from Panjab University, India. He has been leading Battelle's research on CO2 sequestration and also maintains active interest in groundwater characterization, modeling, and remediation research.

T. S. Ramakrishnan is a scientific advisor in Schlumberger-Doll Research and is currently responsible for carbon sequestration research within Schlumberger. He has published in the areas of two-phase flow in porous media, well testing, enhanced oil recovery, carbonate rock physics, invasion, relative permeability logging, formation testers, intelligent completions, etc. He has a B.Tech. degree (Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi) and a Ph.D. (Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago) in chemical engineering.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank Phil Jagucki, Frank Spane, Joel Sminchak, and Danielle Meggyesy of Battelle Memorial Institute and Austin Boyd and Nadja Muller of Schlumberger, for their contributions in the collection and analysis of field data, and Kristian Jessen and Taku Ide of the Petroleum Engineering Department at Stanford University, for their help with the flow simulations. We thank GeoMechanics International for the use of their software. Funding for this study was provided through Stanford University's Global Climate and Energy Project. Funding for the Ohio River Valley CO2 Storage Project was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy through the National Energy Technology Laboratory. Other sponsors include the American Electric Power, BP, Ohio Coal Development Office of the Ohio Air Quality Development Office, Battelle, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Schlumberger.

ABSTRACT

The Ohio River Valley CO2 Storage Project is an ongoing characterization of deep saline formations being considered as potential sites for geological CO2 sequestration. We completed a geomechanical analysis of the Rose Run Sandstone, a potential injection zone, and its adjacent formations at the American Electric Power's 1.3-GW Mountaineer Power Plant in New Haven, West Virginia. The results of this analysis were then applied to three investigations used to evaluate the feasibility of anthropogenic CO2 sequestration in the potential injection zone. First, we incorporated the results of the geomechanical analysis with a geostatistical aquifer model in CO2 injection-flow simulations to test the effects of introducing a hydraulic fracture to increase injectivity. We observed a nearly fourfold increase of injection rate caused by the introduction of a hydraulic fracture in the injection zone. The flow simulations predict that a single vertical well with a hydraulic fracture could inject a maximum of 300–400 kt of CO2/yr. In the second investigation, we determined that horizontal injection wells at the Mountaineer site are feasible because the high rock strength ensures that such wells would be stable in the local stress state. The third investigation used the geomechanical analysis results to evaluate the potential for injection-induced seismicity. If preexisting, but undetected, nearly vertical faults striking north-northeast or east-northeast are present, the increased pore pressure from CO2 injection would raise their reactivation potential. Geomechanical analysis of potential CO2 sequestration sites provides critical information required to evaluate its sequestration potential and associated risks.

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