Electrical resistance tomographic monitoring of CO2 movement in deep geologic reservoirs

Carrigan, Charles R.; Yang, Xianjin; LaBrecque, Douglas; Larsen, Dennis; Freeman, David C.; Ramirez, Abelardo; Daily, William A.; Aines, Roger D.; Newmark, R. L.; Friedmann, Julio; Hovorka, Susan

doi:10.1016/j.ijggc.2013.04.016

Cited by 106 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Among the available geophysical techniques, time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is one of the most popular methods . Given its sensitivity to numerous soil/rock properties, ERT has been applied in various contexts, such as salt-tracer experiments (Doetsch et al, 2012b;Robert et al, 2012), dynamics of infiltration and saturation in the vadose zone (Binley et al, 2002;Koestel et al, 2008), monitoring of permafrost (Krautblatter et al, 2010;Supper et al, 2014), interaction between surface and groundwater (Coscia et al, 2011), and more recently to CO 2 sequestration (Carrigan et al, 2013) and heat-tracing experiments Arato et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Covariance-constrained difference inversion of time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography data

2016

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Hydrogeophysics has become a major field of research in the past two decades, and time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is one of the most popular techniques to monitor passive and active processes in shallow subsurface reservoirs. Time-lapse inversion schemes have been developed to refine inversion results, but they mostly still rely on a spatial regularization procedure based on the standard smoothness constraint. We have applied a covariance-based regularization operator to the time-lapse ERT inverse problem. We first evaluated the method for surface and crosshole ERT with two synthetic cases and compared the results with the smoothness-constrained inversion (SCI). These tests showed that the covariance-constrained inversion (CCI) better images the target in terms of shape and amplitude. Although more important in low-sensitivity zones, we have observed improvements everywhere in the tomograms. Those synthetic examples also show that an error made in the range or in the type of the variogram model had a limited impact on the resulting image, which still remained better than SCI. We then applied the method to cross-borehole ERT field data from a heat-tracing experiment, in which the comparison with direct measurements showed a strong improvement of the breakthrough curves retrieved from ERT. This method could be extended to the time dimension, which would allow the use of CCI in 4D inversion schemes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Covariance-constrained difference inversion of time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography data

2016

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“…Examples of difficultto-reduce uncertainty include non-unique inversions of the data collected and low signal-to-noise ratios. For example the ERT analysis of Doetsch et al (2013) can be compared to Carrigan et al (2013) to illustrate the impact of various types of assumptions during inversion of ERT data. Similar outcomes were observed in the different processing of the time-lapse cross-well and time lapse surface 3-D seismic Ajo-Franklin et al (2013) compared to Butsch et al (2013.…”

Section: Secarb Cranfield Early Testmentioning

confidence: 99%

The state of the art in monitoring and verification—Ten years on

Jenkins

Chadwick

Hovorka

2015

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control

175

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a b s t r a c tIn the ten years since publication of the IPCC Special Report on CCS, there has been considerable progress in monitoring and verification (M&V). Numerous injection projects, ranging from small injection pilots to much larger longer-term commercial operations, have been successfully monitored to the satisfaction of regulatory agencies, and technologies have been adapted and implemented to demonstrate containment, conformance, and no environmental impact. In this review we consider M&V chiefly from the perspective of its ability to satisfy stakeholders that these three key requirements are being met. From selected project examples, we show how this was done, and reflect particularly on the nature of the verification process. It is clear that deep-focussed monitoring will deliver the primary requirement to demonstrate conformance and containment and to provide early warning of any deviations from predicted storage behaviour. Progress in seismic imaging, especially offshore, and the remarkable results with InSAR from In Salah are highlights of the past decade. A wide range of shallow monitoring techniques has been tested at many sites, focussing especially on the monitoring of soil gas and groundwater. Quantification of any detected emissions would be required in some jurisdictions to satisfy carbon mitigation targets in the event of leakage to surface: however, given the likely high security of foreseeable storage sites, we suggest that shallow monitoring should focus mainly on assuring against environmental impacts. This reflects the low risk profile of well selected and well operated storage sites and recognizes the over-arching need for monitoring to be directed to specific, measureable risks. In particular, regulatory compliance might usefully involve clearer articulation of leakage scenarios, with this specificity making it possible to demonstrate "no leakage" in a more objective way than is currently the case. We also consider the monitoring issues for CO 2 -EOR, and argue that there are few technical problems in providing assurance that EOR sites are successfully sequestering CO 2 ; the issues lie largely in linking existing oil and gas regulations to new greenhouse gas policy. We foresee that, overall, monitoring technologies will continue to benefit from synergies with oil and gas operations, but that the distinctive regulatory and certification environments for CCS may pose new questions. Overall, while there is clearly scope for technical improvements, more clearly posed requirements, and better communication of monitoring results, we reiterate that this has been a decade of significant achievement that leaves monitoring and verification well placed to serve the wider CCS enterprise.Crown

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“…In addition, time-lapse seismic survey data plays a key role in the SECARB project Carrigan et al, 2013;Doetsch et al, 2013;Zhang et al, 2013).…”

Section: Cranfield Reservoir Characterizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the Geochemical Alterations in an Aquifer Due to Long-Term Sequestration of CO2 Using Time-Lapse Seismic Information

Han

Srinivasan

2015

All Days

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The effects of chemical interaction between injected CO2, brine, and formation rocks are often ignored in sequestration studies because chemical reactions are assumed to be localized to carbonate rocks that make up only a small proportion of the potential reservoirs. It is conjectured in this work that long-term exposure of certain types of clays and cement material to CO2-brine mixtures can induce chemical reactions and subsequent alteration of rock properties that can be subsequently detected in time-lapse seismic surveys. This is demonstrated using a case-study structured after the Cranfield field injection site. Geochemical alterations of the reservoir rock are quantified by performing reactive transport simulations and subsequently rock physics models are used to translate the altered petrophysical properties into seismic responses. The study quantifies the long-term geochemical effects of CO2 injection on the seismic response and conversely, presents an approach to infer the reservoir regions contacted by the CO2-saturated brine based on the observed seismic response and a unique model selection algorithm. Time-lapse or passive seismic monitoring is an effective method for mapping the progress of the CO2 plume through the subsurface. But, because of the lack of resolution of the seismic information, it is necessary to use the seismic information together with prior geologic knowledge about the surface in order to identify if there is any migration of CO2 into regions that might be deemed sensitive e.g. overlying aquifers or faults. Because of uncertainties in the prior geologic description of the reservoir, the feasibility of implementing a model selection process is explored in this work. The model selection procedure utilizes the observed well data and reference seismic map to select a subset of models that represent the posterior geologic uncertainty. The flow simulation of CO2 injection and forward seismic modeling were repeated on the posterior models, and the seismic responses were compared for the reaction and non-reaction cases. The study showed that the effects of geochemical reactions and the resultant impact on petrophysical properties and fluid saturation distribution were visible in the seismic response. Major differences in seismic responses were detected in regions of the reservoir where significant amount of minerals were dissolved and precipitated. These regions were at the top of the reservoir due to the reactions caused by the buoyant CO2 plume. The presence of carbonate facies, even in small proportion, plays an important role in geochemical reactions and their effect is manifested at the seismic scale. The results of this time-lapse study can provide new interpretation of events observed in time-lapse seismic data that might lead to a better assessment of leakage pathways and other risks.

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Electrical resistance tomographic monitoring of CO2 movement in deep geologic reservoirs

Cited by 106 publications

References 11 publications

Covariance-constrained difference inversion of time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography data

Covariance-constrained difference inversion of time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography data

The state of the art in monitoring and verification—Ten years on

Investigating the Geochemical Alterations in an Aquifer Due to Long-Term Sequestration of CO2 Using Time-Lapse Seismic Information

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