CO 2 storage in coal The RECOPOL project Netherlands Institute of Applied Geoscience TNO - National Geological Survey
Outline of presentation Introduction Geology Reservoir Modelling Laboratory Work Monitoring Further Work & Planning The RECOPOL project 2
RECOPOL Introduction Netherlands Institute of Applied Geoscience TNO - National Geological Survey 3
What is RECOPOL? The RECOPOL project is an EU funded combined research and demonstration project to investigate the possibility of permanent subsurface storage of CO 2 in coal. The field demonstration experiment is the first of it s kind outside Northern America RECOPOL stands for: Reduction of CO 2 emission by means of CO 2 storage in coal seams in the Silesian Coal Basin of Poland The RECOPOL project 4
Facts and figures of RECOPOL The RECOPOL project was financed by the EU in the scope of the 1997 Kyoto protocol CO 2 -emissions reduced with 8% in 2008-2012 with respect to level of 1990 The RECOPOL project started in November 2001 Duration of the project is 36 months duration field experiment 18 months Total budget: circa 4 million EURO, including drilling and operating cost EU 5 th Framework Programme contributes 50% Partners contribute 50 % The RECOPOL project 5
The RECOPOL consortium IEA GHG CSIRO Associated partner: Advanced Resources International End-user: Walloon Federal Region TNO (co-ordinator) Delft University of Technology IFP GAZONOR Gaz de France Air Liquide CMI DBI-GUT Aachen University of Technology End-user: JCOAL End-user: Shell The RECOPOL project 6
Main questions to be answered by the RECOPOL project Is subsurface storage of CO 2 in coal, while simultaneously producing CBM, a technically viable option under European conditions? Is subsurface storage of CO 2 in coal a safe and permanent solution? How much CBM is produced for each tonne of injected CO 2? Can subsurface storage of CO 2 in coal be applied on a larger scale in an economical and social acceptable way? What are the main criteria (geological/technical/economical/ social) for any coal basin, in or outside Europe, to be suitable for this technique? The RECOPOL project 7
Site selection Upper Silesian Coal Basin in Poland was selected as the best location for ECBM-CO 2 in Europe (IEA report, 2000) Permeability Existing CBM infrastructure Thickness and depth of coal layers Industrial area etc. Upper Carboniferous (UC) coal bearing strata UC in Europe deposited in similar setting as UC in U.S. Some UC basins in U.S. well known for CBM production Carboniferous coals are relatively deep and thin The RECOPOL project 8
The RECOPOL project 9 Location of field experiment NS faults are pre-alpine EW faults are Alpine Warsaw Prague Krakow Katowice Bielsko- Biala Study area
Site characteristics Rural area Overbanks of river Wisla The RECOPOL project 10
Original design field experiment Fertilizer plant CO 2 storage tank (> 80 bar) CBM production ±300 m CBM production Miocene CBM 200 m CO 2 200 m CBM 1000-1300 m Carboniferous The RECOPOL project 11
Target coal seams 1.6 m 2.0 m 3.0 m 3.1 m MS-1 5½ inch 1000 m Injection well MS-4 5½ inch 1.3 m 2.9 m 3.3 m 3.1 m 1.7 m 2.8 m 1.8 m 3.2 m 12 1210 m 1255 m The RECOPOL project 12
RECOPOL Geology Netherlands Institute of Applied Geoscience TNO - National Geological Survey 13
Stratigraphy The RECOPOL project 14
Present day faulted topography of the Carboniferous deposits The faults in the study area are pre-alpine Faults expected to be closed Coal-bearing Carboniferous deposits covered by Miocene mudstones that provide seal Seal integrity shown by conventional gas shows in Carboniferous Synsedimentary tectonic activity Lateral thickening of sedimentary wedge The RECOPOL project 15
Cross-section North-South S 354 Si-7 Si-16 MS-4 MS-1 Si-15 Si-18 N 354 357 364 401 357 364 401 405 Sand bodies along faults 405 Sand body along fault cutting into coal seam 501 501 510 Decreasing thickness variation in time indicates decreasing fault movement COAL SAND SHALE The RECOPOL project 16 501 510
Implications for RECOPOL Faults: During the Late Namurian-Westphalian there was clearly synsedimentary tectonic movement in the area Reactivation during Alpine orogeny could not be confirmed or excluded Permeability/Porosity Some lateral variation in the strata is expected due to depositional differences Coal seams at the top of the interval are more likely to be continuous, because there is less risk of a sand body cutting through the coal seams Top coal seams are tightly packed in impermeable shales, because there is less sand at the top of the interval The RECOPOL project 17
RECOPOL Reservoir Modelling Netherlands Institute of Applied Geoscience TNO - National Geological Survey 18
Reservoir modelling Benchmarking of several modelling software packages SIMED (CSIRO & TNO) COMET (ARI) Model activities focussed on: CO 2 breakthrough within project lifetime, given available CO 2 (3000-4000 tonnes, max 20 tonnes/day) Scenario modelling for sensitivity also fall-back scenario without a new well, using one existing well as injector The RECOPOL project 19
TNO SIMED reservoir modelling Layer model 1350.5 m 988.6 m SS 1453 m 357 364 401 405 501 510 o 12 The RECOPOL project 20
Results from reservoir modelling To increase the likelihood of CO 2 breakthrough: Only top three coal layers will be injected New injection well must be close (< 200 m) to production well New injection well must be in line with existing wells Spatial constraints could require deviation from this line The RECOPOL project 21
Cross-section North-South S 354 Si-7 Low permeable clay/shale layers Si-16 MS-4 MS-1 Si-15 Si-18 N 354 357 364 401 357 364 401 405 Injection! 405 501 510 501 510 The RECOPOL project 22
Selected development scenario N MS-1 (not used) New well injector MS-4 producer S The RECOPOL project 23
RECOPOL Laboratory Experiments Netherlands Institute of Applied Geoscience TNO - National Geological Survey 24
Laboratory experiments Main tasks Ad-/desorption experiments on crushed coal samples Sorption capacity (CO 2,CH 4 and mixtures) Preferential sorption (CO 2 /CH 4 mixtures) Sorption kinetics (diffusion measurements) Flow-through (Flushing) experiments on cores Permeability & porosity determination in 3D Samples originate from same seams of interest at shallower depth from nearby mine (Brzeszcze) shallower seams from nearby mine (Silesia) The RECOPOL project 25
Sorption capacity (dry and moist coals) dry coals: CH 4 : ~ 15 Std m³/t CO 2 : ~ 25 Std m³/t moist coals: 10-30% of dry coal sorption capacity Coal VRr (%) Methane CO2 dry moist dry moist Brzeszcze 405LW106 0.74 Brzeszcze 364LW105 0.78 Brzeszcze 510LW405 0.75 Silesia 315LW155 0.68 Additional information: B.M. Krooss The RECOPOL project 26
Preferential sorption always preferential sorption of CO 2 at high pressures occasionally preferential sorption of CH 4 at low pressures some coals show preferential desorption of CO 2 x(co2) (GC/TCD peak area ratios) 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0 T = 45 C VR r = 0.78 % preferential adsorption of CH 4 x(co 2 )=0.68 Brzeszcze 364-105 (moist) 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 Pressure (bar) preferential adsorption of CO 2 Additional information: B.M. Krooss preferential desorption of CO 2 Adsorption Desorption x(co2) source gas The RECOPOL project 27
Sorption kinetics CO 2 adsorbs more rapidly than CH 4 two-step sorption process observed for dry coals moist coals under investigation 1.00 0.90 P(rel.) 0.80 0.70 0.60 0.50 0.40 CH4 (> 2mm), P(ini)=13.175 bar CH4 (> 2mm), P(ini)=23.325 bar CH4 (> 2mm), P(ini)=33.8 bar CO2 (> 2mm), P(ini)=5.75 bar CO2 (> 2mm), P(ini)=8.2 bar CO2 (> 2mm), P(ini)=29.2 bar 0.30 0.20 0.10 0.00 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 Time (h) Additional information: B.M. Krooss The RECOPOL project 28
Flushing Experiments: Results, relevant for simulation input Silesia LW155, seam 315 Cumulative injection and production vs. time Recopol I GC-gas composition and sweep efficiency vs. displaced volume CO 2 = 1 % CO 2 = 50% CO 2 = 90% Sweep efficiency [%] 11.6 16.5 19.5 Displaced volume [mole/mole] 1.26 2.09 2.86 Time after production [sec] 2.7x10 5 4.5x10 5 Additional information: K-H. Wolf & S. Mazumder 6.1x10 5 The RECOPOL project 29
CT-scans: cleat type, angle & distribution Results, relevant for simulation input Brzeszcze LW105, seam 405 Scans analysed with Qwin on: Cleat density (open, filled) & layering Angle distribution Angle distributions derived from the three CT-scan image planes xy, zy and zx. Gathered they can be compared with the angle analysis on coal cuttings. Here the ZY-plane is sub-parallel to the layering Additional information: K-H. Wolf & S. Mazumder The RECOPOL project 30
RECOPOL Monitoring Netherlands Institute of Applied Geoscience TNO - National Geological Survey 31
Monitoring Requirements for monitoring of possible leaks has been increasing during last 2 years Public confidence in CO 2 storage Health and safety issues Four types Seismic monitoring Isotopic signature Monitoring of CO 2 in nearby mine Surface monitoring The RECOPOL project 32
Seismic Monitoring Method that is best applicable is still under evaluation Isotope signature Regular isotope measurement of injected CO2 Regular isotope measurement of produced CO2 up to 5% naturally occurring CO2 in coalbed gas The RECOPOL project 33
Monitoring in the mine Gas measurements Agreement reached between CMI and Silesia mine about the placement of a gas analyser ( sniffer ) in the nearby mine Sensors will placed in gallery that will be connected to measuring system of mine Surface monitoring Soil gas measurements Location specific measurements at key locations of CO 2 and CH 4 gas concentrations Faults Abandoned wells Injection and production well casings 1.5-2 m The RECOPOL project 34
Well MS-1 MS-4 The RECOPOL project 35
RECOPOL Further Work & Planning Netherlands Institute of Applied Geoscience TNO - National Geological Survey 36
Further work (until October 2004) Construction of site, drilling, CO2 infrastructure, injection, etc. History matching with numerical model of test site results to calibrate earlier models & validate theories from these models integration and upscaling of laboratory work in the numerical modelling Socio-economical and future-technological evaluation upscaling of test site to larger scale (actual sequestration) operations Design of a GIS-based Decision Support System for CO 2 sequestration in coal geological and reservoir conditions, subsurface installations, infrastructure demands, financing/taxation regulations, etc. The RECOPOL project 37
Project planning On stream, but slightly delayed 2002 2003 2004 MILESTONES Geological and reservoir model Laboratory work Drilling tender procedure Drilling Injection/ production History matching Finalising production production/injection The RECOPOL project 38
Website www.nitg.tno.nl/recopol The RECOPOL project 39
Acknowledgements The authors wish to express their gratitude to the partners in the RECOPOL project. The European Commission is acknowledged for funding and support of this project executed under the programme ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. The RECOPOL project 40