GCCC Texts and Reports

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    A tool to facilitate modeling and pilot projects for sequestration of carbon dioxide in saline formations
    (American Chemical Society: Division of Fuel Chemistry, 2000) Hovorka, Susan D.; Romero, Martha L.; Warne, Andrew G.; Ambrose, William A.; Tremblay, Thomas A.; Treviño, Ramón H.
    Saline water-bearing formations that extend beneath much of the continental United States are attractive candidates for disposal of CO, produced during power generation or by other industrial processes. We have quantified the characteristics of saline formations that assure that gas can be efficiently injected into the selected subsurface unit and that it will remain sequestered for suitably long time periods. A GIS data base of these geologic attributes of 21 saline formations is available to support data analysis and comparison with CO, source locations. Attributes include depth, permeability, formation thickness, net sand thickness, percent shale, sand-body continuity, top seal thickness, continuity of top seal, hydrocarbon production from interval, fluid residence time, flow direction, C02soluhility in brine (P, T and salinity), rock mineralogy, water chemistry, and porosity. Variations in formation properties should be considered in order to match a surface greenhouse gas emissions reduction operation with a suitable subsurface disposal site.
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    Technical summary: optimal geological environments for carbon dioxide disposal in brine-bearing formations (aquifers) in the United States
    (2000) Hovorka, Susan D.; Romero, Martha L.; Trevino, Ramon H.; Warne, Andrew. G.; Ambrose, W. A.; Knox, Paul R.; Tremblay, Thomas A.
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    Capacity investigation of brine-bearing sands of the Frio Formation for geologic sequestration of CO2
    (First National Conference on Carbon Sequestration, May 14–17, Washington, D.C., sponsored by National Energy Technology Laboratory, 2001-05) Doughty, Christine; Pruess, Karston; Benson, Sally M.; Hovorka, Susan D.; Knox, Paul R.; Green, Christopher T.
    The capacity of fluvial brine-bearing formations to sequester CO2 is investigated using numerical simulations of CO2 injection and storage. Capacity is defined as the volume fraction of the subsurface available for CO2 storage and is conceptualized as a product of factors that account for two-phase flow and transport processes, formation geometry, formation heterogeneity, and formation porosity. The space and time domains used to define capacity must be chosen with care to obtain meaningful results, especially when comparing different authors’ work. Physical factors that impact capacity include permeability anisotropy and relative permeability to CO2, brine/CO2 density and viscosity ratios, the shape of the trapping structure, formation porosity and the presence of low permeability layering.
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    Evaluation of brine-bearing sands of the Frio Formation, Upper Texas Gulf Coast for geologic sequestration of CO2
    (First National Conference on Carbon Sequestration, May 14–17, Washington, D.C., sponsored by National Energy Technology Laboratory, 2001-05) Hovorka, Susan D.; Doughty, Catherine A.; Knox, Paul R.; Green, Christopher T.; Pruess, Karston; Benson, Sally M.
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    Frio brine sequestration pilot in the Texas Gulf Coast
    (Greenhouse gas control technologies: Proceedings, 6th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies, 2003-10-01) Hovorka, Susan D.; Knox, Paul R.
    A field experiment to pioneer CO2 injection for sequestration in a brine-bearing sandstone-shale sequence in the Texas Gulf Coast, USA, is in the preinjection modeling and planning phase. Innovations in this experiment include (1) CO2 injection into high-volume highpermeability rocks that have storage capacity sufficient to impact greenhouse gas emissions, (2) injection into a setting lacking the complications introduced by hydrocarbons and perturbations resulting from production and secondary recovery, and (3) intensive pre-, syn-, and post-injection monitoring and modeling for validation of the effectiveness of sequestration. The experiment is designed to provide a rapid increase in information from a small-volume and short-duration injection.
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    The impact of geological heterogeneity on CO2 storage in brine formations: a case study from the Texas Gulf Coast
    (2004) Hovorka, Susan D.; Doughty, C.; Benson, S.M.; Pruess, K.; Knox, P.R.
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    The U-tube: A novel system for acquiring borehole fluid samples from a deep geologic CO2 sequestration experiment
    (2005) Freifeld, B.M.; Trautz, R.C.; Kharaka, Y.K.; Phelps, T.J.; Myer, L.R.; Hovorka, Susan D.; Collins, D.J.
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    Audience-Pleasing Physical Models to Support CO2 Outreach
    (National Energy Technology Laboratory Fourth Annual Conference on Carbon Capture and Sequestration, 2005-05-02) Hovorka, S. D.; Hotinski, R.; Friedmann, S. J.
    Outreach to increase public understanding is critical to implementation of carbon capture and storage, but conventional lectures may fail to engage a non-technical audience. In this presentation we will exhibit a selection of do-it-yourself demonstrations that are proven to grab an audience’s attention and can be adapted for use with a variety of groups. Using interesting and engaging physical models, and without use of PowerPoint, posters or handouts, speakers can show a non-technical audience (1) how CO2 is formed from the combustion of hydrocarbon molecules(2) how much CO2 we produce in daily activities, (3) why CO2 works to trap heat in the atmosphere 4)the properties of CO2 and its health and safety risks (5)how geologic storage of CO2 would work to reduce emissions. These demonstrations require only readily available, low-cost materials and have been used successfully with a variety of audiences, from adults to elementary school-age children. They are simple enough to be replicated by audience members for use in school and community programs.
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    A screening model for CO2 flooding and storage in Gulf Coast reservoirs based on dimensionless groups
    (2006) Wood, D.J.; Lake, L.W.; Johns, R.T.; Nunez-Lopez, Vanessa
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    Gas-water-rock interactions in Frio Formation following CO2 injection: Implications for the storage of greenhouse gases in sedimentary basins
    (2006) Kharaka, Y.K.; Cole, D.R.; Hovorka, Susan D.; Gunter, W.D.; Knauss, K.G.; Freifeld, B.M.
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    Source-Sink Matching and Potential for Carbon Capture and Storage in the Gulf Coast
    (Proceedings of the 2006 UIC Conference of the Groundwater Protection Council, 2006) Ambrose, William A.; Breton, Caroline L.; Duncan, Ian; Holtz, Mark H.; Hovorka, Susan D.; Núñez-López, Vanessa; Lakshminarasimhan, Srivatsan
    Current global levels of anthropogenic CO2 emissions are 25.6 Gigatons yr. Approximately 1 Gigaton comes from the Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi Gulf Coast, representing 16 percent of the U.S. annual CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. The Gulf Coast region provides an opportunity for addressing the problem. Geologic sequestration results from the capturing of CO2 from combustion products and injecting the compressed gas as a supercritical fluid into subsurface brine aquifers for long-term storage. The Gulf Coast overlies an unusually thick succession of highly porous and permeable sand aquifers separated by thick shale aquitards. The Gulf Coast also has a large potential for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), in which CO2 injected into suitable oil reservoirs could be used first for EOR and then for large-volume, long-term storage of CO2 in nonproductive formations below the reservoir interval. For example, there are numerous opportunities for locating CO2 injection wells either in fields for EOR or in stacked brine aquifers near potential FutureGen sites, where a near-zero emission facility would generate primarily hydrogen and CO2 as by-products. We estimate that in the Gulf Coast, outside of the traditional area of CO2 EOR in the Permian Basin, an additional 4.5 billion barrels of oil could be produced by using miscible CO2. At $60 per barrel, this incremental production is estimated to have a wellhead value of $270 billion that could generate more than $40 billion in taxes.
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    Measuring permanence of CO2 storage in saline formations: the Frio experiment
    (2006) Hovorka, Susan D.; Benson, S.M.; Doughty, C.; Freifeld, B.M.; Sakurai, S.; Daly, T.M.; Kharaka, Y.K.; Holtz, M.H.; Trautz, R.C.; Seay Nance, H.; Myer, L.R.; Knauss, K.G.
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    Area of review: how large is large enough for carbon storage?
    (Proceedings of the 2006 UIC Conference of the Groundwater Protection Council, 2006) Nicot, Jean-Phillipe; Hovorka, Susan D.; Knox, Paul R.; Naing, Thet
    The Texas Gulf Coast is an attractive target for carbon storage. Stacked sand-shale layers provide large potential storage volumes and defense-in-depth leakage protection. However, multiple perforations resulting from intensive hydrocarbon exploration and production have weakened seal integrity in many favorable locations. If the ultimate goal of carbon storage is to isolate large volumes of CO2 for hundreds to thousands of years, plume migration will encounter inadequately completed wells miles away from the injection zone. Moreover, the detrimental impact of CO2 on cement could undermine the structural integrity of all contacted wells, although pressure effects subside quickly after injection. Even wells abandoned to current standards cannot be guaranteed leak-free in the long term. We describe spatial statistics extracted from the Texas RRC Well Bore database as applied to carbon storage. Although the Area of Review (AOR) has been traditionally defined by a fixed radius with the strong regulatory requirement that the injectate stays within the injection layer, buoyancy is a major characteristic of CO2 that introduces a third dimension into the Area of Review process. Using simple geological mapping to characterize structural traps, we determine the likely pathway and the contacted volume of a migrating plume. The latter can be as large as a fault compartment with dimensions of 20 km × 20 km. However, the contacted volume is ultimately a function of the total injected volume, and the specifics of each project should dictate the dimensions of the zone of endangering influence (ZEI). An option, viable for the Texas Gulf Coast, to reduce geologic uncertainty, to decrease the impact of wells, and to limit the amount of information to be collected, is to inject CO2 below the maximum penetration of most wells.
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    Potential Sinks for Geologic Storage of CO2 Generated in the Carolinas
    (2007-04-07) Smyth, Rebecca C.; Hovorka, Susan D.; Meckel, Timothy A.; Breton, Caroline L.; Paine, Jeffrey G.; Hill, Gerald R.
    This document summarizes a scoping study of the current state of knowledge of carbon storage options for our geographic area. The focus is on one aspect of carbon capture and storage—identification of deep saline aquifers in which carbon dioxide (CO2 ) generated in the Carolinas might be stored. The study does not address other aspects of CO2 storage projects, such as capture and compression of the gas, well construction and development, or injection. Transport of CO2 is touched upon in this study but has not been fully addressed. The information contained in this document is primarily from review of published geologic literature and unpublished data. No field data collection has been completed as part of this study. Further work will be necessary to increase confidence in the suitability of the potential CO2 storage sites identified in this report. This study does not address the regulatory, environmental, or public policy issues associated with carbon storage, which are under development at this time.
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    Geologic factors controlling CO2 storage capacity and permanence: case studies based on experience with heterogeneity in oil and gas reservoirs applied to CO2 storage
    (2008) Ambrose, W.A.; Lakshminarasimhan, S.; Holtz, M.H.; Nunez-Lopez, Vanessa; Hovorka, Susan D.; Duncan, I.
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    Quick-look assessments to identify optimal CO2 EOR storage sites
    (2008) Nunez-Lopez, Vanessa; Holtz, M.H.; Wood, D.J.; Ambrose, W.A.; Hovorka, Susan D.
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    Potential sinks for geologic storage of carbon dioxide generated by power plants in North and South Carolina
    (Southern States Energy Board Electric Power Research Institute, 2008) Smyth, R. C.; Hovorka, S. D.; Meckel, T. A.; Breton, C. A.; Paine, J. G.; Hill, G. R.; Herzog, H.; Zhang, H.; Li, W.