Monitoring CO₂ injection for carbon capture and storage using time-lapse 3D VSPs

Abstract

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is the process through which a nearly pure carbon dioxide (CO2) stream is captured, separated from flue gas or other industrial processes, compressed, transported to an appropriate storage site, and injected deep underground into a geological formation where it can be safely stored for long-term geologic storage (Benson, 2005). Large sedimentary basins, such as the Illinois, Michigan, and Western Canadian sedimentary basins are good targets for CCS, as they are in close proximity to large CO2 emitters and are composed of the appropriate saline formations and overlying nonpermeable formations. In 2003, the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE-NETL) created a nationwide network of federal, state, and private sector partnerships to determine the most suitable technologies, regulations, and infrastructure for future CCS in different areas of the North America (Office of Fossil Energy, 2013).

Fine-scale structure of the Precambrian beneath the Illinois Basin

“…Our study provides one of the best geophysically constrained observations of such reflectivity in a classic area of geological interest. Recent advancements in 2D and 3D seismic imaging, applied as part of a carbon sequestration program in the Illinois Basin (Couëslan et al, 2009(Couëslan et al, , 2013(Couëslan et al, , 2014a(Couëslan et al, , 2014bAlvi et al, 2013;McBride et al, 2014), provide a unique opportunity to employ state-of-the-art techniques to studying Precambrian geology beneath the basin.…”

SV-P and S-S imaging at a CO2 storage site using vertical seismic profiling data

“…The seismic profile just touches the edge of the plume, as reported by Couëslan et al (2013), in which gas saturation is moderate. In addition, the relatively small amount of sources involved does not allow adequate elimination of processing and time-lapse noises under which the time-lapse signal is buried.…”

“…Comparison of monitor and baseline seismic surveys provides information about CO 2 volume changes. Couëslan et al (2013) used vertical-geophone data acquired at the Decatur storage site and performed time-lapse 3D VSP analysis. They observed growth of CO 2 plume with time and reported its north-west orientation from the injection well (Fig.…”

Posibilidades de captura y almacenamiento geológico de CO2 (CCS) en Colombia – caso Tauramena (Casanare)

“…La captura o secuestro geológico del CO 2 (CCScarbon capture and storage) es una de las formas de mitigación que ha sido investigada ampliamente en países como Noruega, donde fue aplicado por primera vez con captación y almacenamiento en el año 1996 en el Campo Sleipner del mar del Norte (Holloway et al, 2003;Bennaceur et al, 2008). En Estados Unidos, uno de los proyectos más destacados se ha desarrollado en la Cuenca IIlinois, mediante The Illinois Basin-Decatur Project (IBDP) también conocido como Emisiones Cero, en dicho proyecto todo el gas producido por una planta de energía a carbón se inyectaría al subsuelo de tal manera que las emisiones serían cero (Couëslan et al, 2013;Warwick, 2016). Otros proyectos importantes son Weyburn en EE.UU y también en Canadá en donde se está almacenando el CO 2 de una carboeléctrica en un campo petrolero.…”