- Email: [email protected]
Characterization of formation properties for geological storage of CO2 – Experiences from the Heletz CO2 injection site and other example sites from the EU FP7 project MUSTANG
International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 48 (2016) 1–2
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijggc
Preface
Characterization of formation properties for geological storage of CO2 – Experiences from the Heletz CO2 injection site and other example sites from the EU FP7 project MUSTANG
Saline aquifers in deep sedimentary formations are considered the primary candidates for geological storage of CO2 , due to their large volumetric capacity that would be sufficient to meet the needs for CCS storage space in a global scale. In comparison to depleted oil and gas reservoirs the deep saline aquifers are, however, less investigated as there has previously been little economic interest in them. Effective methods for characterizing the storage aquifers are crucial for a successful implementation of any CCS project and therefore being developed and transferred from other applications in a various CCS projects. The objective of EU FP7 funded project MUSTANG project (A multiple space and time scale approach for the quantification of deep saline formations for CO2 storage, www.co2mustang.eu) has been to develop methods for characterizing saline aquifers and for understanding their properties. An essential part of this was establishment of a CO2 injection site at Heletz, Israel, where smallscale scientifically motivated injection experiments are planned to be carried out in presently ongoing continuation projects TRUST (http://trust-co2.org/) and CO2QUEST (www.co2quest.eu). While a large number of publications has been already produced based on the work in the MUSTANG project and its successors, and published in different journals, including this one, the objective of this Special Edition has been to gather some of the concluding work in the same journal issue. The focus has in particular been in summarizing the site characterization work carried out at the Heletz site, thereby providing readers an easy overview of the findings and characteristics of the site. In addition, some related work from some of the other sites investigated in MUSTANG project is also included, namely work from the sites Hontomin, Maguelone and a natural analog site in the North Sea. The results are intended to add to our understanding on relevant properties of geological formations as candidates for CO2 geological storage. 1. Characterization of the Heletz CO2 injection site Niemi et al. (2016) present an overview of the Heletz site, summarizing the site characterization work done in preparation to the CO2 injection experiments. They also present a conceptual model of the site along with the associated parameter values. Parameter uncertainties are addressed as well. Tatomir et al. (2016) analyze sandstone and caprock properties by means of laboratory experiments and pore-network modeling, with focus on the petrophysical http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2016.02.007 1750-5836/© 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
properties relevant for CO2 flow and trapping as well as transport properties. Hingerl et al. (2016) present the results of a multi-scale characterization of the flow properties and structural as well as capillary heterogeneities of the sandstone. They quantify small scale heterogeneity in saturation distributions, hysteretic relative permeabilities and residual trapping as well as provide parameters for relative permeability, capillary pressure and trapping models. Elhami et al. (2016) in turn test the rock-mechanical properties of the sandstone, both with nondestructive and destructive tests. The results show that the sample rock is poorly consolidated and weak with respect to its depth of deposition. Luquot et al. (2016) focus on the reactivity of the sandstone when in contact with CO2 -rich brine by means of percolation experiments. Experiments are performed at in situ temperature and pressure conditions with different injection flowrates and brine compositions and effects on porosity and permeability are investigated. Soler-Sagarra et al. (2016) take the work of Luquot et al. (2016) further by presenting a model for the localization of the geochemical reactions by using the so-called Multi-Rate Mass Transfer (MRMT) modeling approach. This allows the modeling of processes like the localized precipitation of kaolinite, which cannot be modeled with conventional reactive transport formulations. Edlmann et al. (2016) in turn present both the initial databases of the mineralogy of the cap-rock and reservoir sandstones as well as their reactivity under exposure to CO2 in reservoir conditions corresponding to an initial injection of CO2 . The sandstone exhibited reactivity while cap-rock revealed no reactivity of immediate concern and can be expected to retain its integrity. In terms of seismic monitoring, Zhang et al. (2016) perform a series of synthetic experiments to compare the seismic waveform inversion method with conventional seismic monitoring methods for time-lapse monitoring at CO2 geological storage sites. The velocity models are based on a simplified structure of the Heletz site. Their results indicate that seismic waveform inversion may be a good complement to standard CDP processing when monitoring CO2 injection. 2. Effect of exposure to CO2 on reservoir rock, cap-rock and well cements The aforementioned studies by Luquot et al. (2016) and Edlmann et al. (2016) investigate the changes to Heletz reservoir and
2
Preface / International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 48 (2016) 1–2
cap-rock when exposed to CO2 and/or CO2 /brine in reservoir conditions. Dávila et al. (2016a) in turn look at cap-rock samples from Hontomín (Spain), a site where CO2 is planned to be injected into a limestone reservoir overlain by a cap-rock of marl. The interaction between the marl and CO2 -rich sulfate solutions under supercritical CO2 conditions are determined by means of flow-through experiments on artificially fractured cores and the effect on fracture permeability is investigated. McCraw et al. (2016) investigate a natural fracture from the primary sealing layer of a natural CO2 storage analog site, the Fizzy field in the North Sea. Laboratory experiments are carried out to investigate the hydro-mechanical behavior of supercritical CO2 fluid flow at in situ pressures and temperatures. The results provide insight to the links of fracture characteristics and the coupled hydro-mechanics of the supercritical CO2 fluid flow. Effect of CO2 exposure on well sealing materials is investigated by Abdoulghafour et al. (2016) and Dávila et al. (2016b). Abdoulghafour et al. (2016) investigate the alteration of fractured class G cement flowed by CO2 -rich brine, mimicking a mechanically damaged rough-walled fractured cement annulus at in situ temperatures and pressure. The results indicate the fracture alteration patterns to be triggered by the initial heterogeneity of the fracture apertures. Dávila et al. (2016b) in turn investigate the potential use of MgO as an alternative to Portland cement in injection wells and present laboratory experiments on MgO carbonation under subcritic and supercritic CO2 conditions. The results indicate a decrease in porosity when increasing temperature and pCO2 which could be beneficial for the sealing properties of the cement. 3. Shallow CO2 injection experiments at the Maguelone site Pezard et al. (2016) present results from a shallow CO2 injection experiment from the Maguelone (Languedoc, France) site, where the objective has been to test, in an integrated manner, a suite of surface and downhole hydrogeophysical monitoring methods. Pressure monitoring, time-lapse induction logging and downhole resistivity measurements along with chemical analyses of the fluid samples show consistent results. Acknowledgements We as guest editors to this special edition would like to, also on behalf of the authors, especially acknowledge the role of EU FP7 projects MUSTANG, PANACEA, TRUST and CO2QUEST (grant numbers 227286, 282900, 309067 and 309102) for the financial support. References Abdoulghafour, H., Gouze, P., Luquot, L., Leprovost, R., 2016. Characterization and modeling of the alteration of fractured class-G Portland cement during flow of CO2 -rich brine. Int. J. of Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 155–170.
Dávila, G., Luquot, L., Soler, J.M., Cama, J., 2016a. Interaction between a fractured marl caprock and CO2 -rich sulfate solution under supercritical CO2 conditions. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 105–119. Dávila, G., Cama, J., Galí, S., Luquot, L., Soler, J.M., 2016b. Efficiency of magnesium hydroxide as engineering seal in the geological sequestration of CO2 . Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 171–185. Edlmann, K., Niemi, A., Bensabat, J., Haszeldine, R.S., McDermott, C.I., 2016. Mineralogical properties of the caprock and reservoir sandstone of the Heletz field scale experimental CO2 injection site, Israel; and their initial sensitivity to CO2 injection. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 94–104. Elhami, E., Ask, M., Mattsson, H., 2016. Physical- and geomechanical properties of a drill core sample from 1.6 km depth at the Heletz site in Israel: Some implications for reservoir rock and CO2 storage. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 84–93. Hingerl, F.F., Yang, F., Pini, R., Xiao, X., Toney, M.F., Liu, Y., Benson, S.M., 2016. Characterization of heterogeneity in the Heletz sandstone from core to pore scale and quantification of its impact on multi-phase flow. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 69–83. Luquot, L., Gouze, P., Niemi, A., Bensabat, J., Carrera, J., 2016. Laboratory CO2 -rich brine percolation experiments through Heletz samples (Israel): role of the flow rate and brine composition. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 44–58. McCraw, C., Edlmann, K., Miocic, J., Gilfillan, S., Haszeldine, S., McDermott, C., 2016. Experimental investigation and hybrid numerical analytical hydraulic mechanical simulation of supercritical CO2 flowing through a natural fracture in caprock. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 120–133. Niemi, A., Bensabat, J., Shtivelman, V., Edlmann, K., Gouze, P., Luquot, L., Hingerl, F., Benson, S.M., Pezard, P.A., Rasmusson, K., Liang, T., Fagerlund, F., Gendler, M., Goldberg, I., Tatomir, A., Lange, T., Sauter, M., Freifeld, B., 2016. Heletz experimental site overview, characterization and data analysis for CO2 injection and geological storage. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 3–23. Pezard, P.A., Denchik, N., Lofi, J., Perroud, H., Henry, G., Neyens, D., Luquot, L., Levannier, A., 2016. Time-lapse downhole electrical resistivity monitoring of subsurface CO2 storage at the Maguelone shallow experimental site (Languedoc, France). Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 142–154. Soler-Sagarra, J., Luquot, L., Martinez-Perez, L., Saaltink, M.W., De Gaspari, F., Carrera, J., 2016. Simulation of chemical reaction localization using a multi-porosity reactive transport approach. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 59–68. Tatomir, A., Halisch, M., Duschl, F., Peche, A., Wiegand, B., Schaffer, M., Licha, T., Bensabat, J., Niemi, A., Sauter, M., 2016. An integrated core-based analysis for characterization of flow, transport and mineralogical parameters of the Heletz pilot CO2 storage site reservoir. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 24–43. Zhang, F., Juhlin, C., Niemi, A., Huang, F., Bensabat, J., 2016. A feasibility and efficiency study of seismic waveform inversion for time-lapse monitoring of onshore CO2 geological storage sites using reflection seismic acquisition geometries. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 134–141.
Auli Niemi ∗ Uppsala University, Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden Philippe Gouze Géosciences Montpellier, CNRS, U. Montpellier, France Jacob Bensabat EWRE Ltd, Haifa, Israel ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Niemi)
Available online 20 February 2016
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijggc
Preface
Characterization of formation properties for geological storage of CO2 – Experiences from the Heletz CO2 injection site and other example sites from the EU FP7 project MUSTANG
Saline aquifers in deep sedimentary formations are considered the primary candidates for geological storage of CO2 , due to their large volumetric capacity that would be sufficient to meet the needs for CCS storage space in a global scale. In comparison to depleted oil and gas reservoirs the deep saline aquifers are, however, less investigated as there has previously been little economic interest in them. Effective methods for characterizing the storage aquifers are crucial for a successful implementation of any CCS project and therefore being developed and transferred from other applications in a various CCS projects. The objective of EU FP7 funded project MUSTANG project (A multiple space and time scale approach for the quantification of deep saline formations for CO2 storage, www.co2mustang.eu) has been to develop methods for characterizing saline aquifers and for understanding their properties. An essential part of this was establishment of a CO2 injection site at Heletz, Israel, where smallscale scientifically motivated injection experiments are planned to be carried out in presently ongoing continuation projects TRUST (http://trust-co2.org/) and CO2QUEST (www.co2quest.eu). While a large number of publications has been already produced based on the work in the MUSTANG project and its successors, and published in different journals, including this one, the objective of this Special Edition has been to gather some of the concluding work in the same journal issue. The focus has in particular been in summarizing the site characterization work carried out at the Heletz site, thereby providing readers an easy overview of the findings and characteristics of the site. In addition, some related work from some of the other sites investigated in MUSTANG project is also included, namely work from the sites Hontomin, Maguelone and a natural analog site in the North Sea. The results are intended to add to our understanding on relevant properties of geological formations as candidates for CO2 geological storage. 1. Characterization of the Heletz CO2 injection site Niemi et al. (2016) present an overview of the Heletz site, summarizing the site characterization work done in preparation to the CO2 injection experiments. They also present a conceptual model of the site along with the associated parameter values. Parameter uncertainties are addressed as well. Tatomir et al. (2016) analyze sandstone and caprock properties by means of laboratory experiments and pore-network modeling, with focus on the petrophysical http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2016.02.007 1750-5836/© 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
properties relevant for CO2 flow and trapping as well as transport properties. Hingerl et al. (2016) present the results of a multi-scale characterization of the flow properties and structural as well as capillary heterogeneities of the sandstone. They quantify small scale heterogeneity in saturation distributions, hysteretic relative permeabilities and residual trapping as well as provide parameters for relative permeability, capillary pressure and trapping models. Elhami et al. (2016) in turn test the rock-mechanical properties of the sandstone, both with nondestructive and destructive tests. The results show that the sample rock is poorly consolidated and weak with respect to its depth of deposition. Luquot et al. (2016) focus on the reactivity of the sandstone when in contact with CO2 -rich brine by means of percolation experiments. Experiments are performed at in situ temperature and pressure conditions with different injection flowrates and brine compositions and effects on porosity and permeability are investigated. Soler-Sagarra et al. (2016) take the work of Luquot et al. (2016) further by presenting a model for the localization of the geochemical reactions by using the so-called Multi-Rate Mass Transfer (MRMT) modeling approach. This allows the modeling of processes like the localized precipitation of kaolinite, which cannot be modeled with conventional reactive transport formulations. Edlmann et al. (2016) in turn present both the initial databases of the mineralogy of the cap-rock and reservoir sandstones as well as their reactivity under exposure to CO2 in reservoir conditions corresponding to an initial injection of CO2 . The sandstone exhibited reactivity while cap-rock revealed no reactivity of immediate concern and can be expected to retain its integrity. In terms of seismic monitoring, Zhang et al. (2016) perform a series of synthetic experiments to compare the seismic waveform inversion method with conventional seismic monitoring methods for time-lapse monitoring at CO2 geological storage sites. The velocity models are based on a simplified structure of the Heletz site. Their results indicate that seismic waveform inversion may be a good complement to standard CDP processing when monitoring CO2 injection. 2. Effect of exposure to CO2 on reservoir rock, cap-rock and well cements The aforementioned studies by Luquot et al. (2016) and Edlmann et al. (2016) investigate the changes to Heletz reservoir and
2
Preface / International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 48 (2016) 1–2
cap-rock when exposed to CO2 and/or CO2 /brine in reservoir conditions. Dávila et al. (2016a) in turn look at cap-rock samples from Hontomín (Spain), a site where CO2 is planned to be injected into a limestone reservoir overlain by a cap-rock of marl. The interaction between the marl and CO2 -rich sulfate solutions under supercritical CO2 conditions are determined by means of flow-through experiments on artificially fractured cores and the effect on fracture permeability is investigated. McCraw et al. (2016) investigate a natural fracture from the primary sealing layer of a natural CO2 storage analog site, the Fizzy field in the North Sea. Laboratory experiments are carried out to investigate the hydro-mechanical behavior of supercritical CO2 fluid flow at in situ pressures and temperatures. The results provide insight to the links of fracture characteristics and the coupled hydro-mechanics of the supercritical CO2 fluid flow. Effect of CO2 exposure on well sealing materials is investigated by Abdoulghafour et al. (2016) and Dávila et al. (2016b). Abdoulghafour et al. (2016) investigate the alteration of fractured class G cement flowed by CO2 -rich brine, mimicking a mechanically damaged rough-walled fractured cement annulus at in situ temperatures and pressure. The results indicate the fracture alteration patterns to be triggered by the initial heterogeneity of the fracture apertures. Dávila et al. (2016b) in turn investigate the potential use of MgO as an alternative to Portland cement in injection wells and present laboratory experiments on MgO carbonation under subcritic and supercritic CO2 conditions. The results indicate a decrease in porosity when increasing temperature and pCO2 which could be beneficial for the sealing properties of the cement. 3. Shallow CO2 injection experiments at the Maguelone site Pezard et al. (2016) present results from a shallow CO2 injection experiment from the Maguelone (Languedoc, France) site, where the objective has been to test, in an integrated manner, a suite of surface and downhole hydrogeophysical monitoring methods. Pressure monitoring, time-lapse induction logging and downhole resistivity measurements along with chemical analyses of the fluid samples show consistent results. Acknowledgements We as guest editors to this special edition would like to, also on behalf of the authors, especially acknowledge the role of EU FP7 projects MUSTANG, PANACEA, TRUST and CO2QUEST (grant numbers 227286, 282900, 309067 and 309102) for the financial support. References Abdoulghafour, H., Gouze, P., Luquot, L., Leprovost, R., 2016. Characterization and modeling of the alteration of fractured class-G Portland cement during flow of CO2 -rich brine. Int. J. of Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 155–170.
Dávila, G., Luquot, L., Soler, J.M., Cama, J., 2016a. Interaction between a fractured marl caprock and CO2 -rich sulfate solution under supercritical CO2 conditions. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 105–119. Dávila, G., Cama, J., Galí, S., Luquot, L., Soler, J.M., 2016b. Efficiency of magnesium hydroxide as engineering seal in the geological sequestration of CO2 . Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 171–185. Edlmann, K., Niemi, A., Bensabat, J., Haszeldine, R.S., McDermott, C.I., 2016. Mineralogical properties of the caprock and reservoir sandstone of the Heletz field scale experimental CO2 injection site, Israel; and their initial sensitivity to CO2 injection. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 94–104. Elhami, E., Ask, M., Mattsson, H., 2016. Physical- and geomechanical properties of a drill core sample from 1.6 km depth at the Heletz site in Israel: Some implications for reservoir rock and CO2 storage. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 84–93. Hingerl, F.F., Yang, F., Pini, R., Xiao, X., Toney, M.F., Liu, Y., Benson, S.M., 2016. Characterization of heterogeneity in the Heletz sandstone from core to pore scale and quantification of its impact on multi-phase flow. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 69–83. Luquot, L., Gouze, P., Niemi, A., Bensabat, J., Carrera, J., 2016. Laboratory CO2 -rich brine percolation experiments through Heletz samples (Israel): role of the flow rate and brine composition. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 44–58. McCraw, C., Edlmann, K., Miocic, J., Gilfillan, S., Haszeldine, S., McDermott, C., 2016. Experimental investigation and hybrid numerical analytical hydraulic mechanical simulation of supercritical CO2 flowing through a natural fracture in caprock. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 120–133. Niemi, A., Bensabat, J., Shtivelman, V., Edlmann, K., Gouze, P., Luquot, L., Hingerl, F., Benson, S.M., Pezard, P.A., Rasmusson, K., Liang, T., Fagerlund, F., Gendler, M., Goldberg, I., Tatomir, A., Lange, T., Sauter, M., Freifeld, B., 2016. Heletz experimental site overview, characterization and data analysis for CO2 injection and geological storage. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 3–23. Pezard, P.A., Denchik, N., Lofi, J., Perroud, H., Henry, G., Neyens, D., Luquot, L., Levannier, A., 2016. Time-lapse downhole electrical resistivity monitoring of subsurface CO2 storage at the Maguelone shallow experimental site (Languedoc, France). Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 142–154. Soler-Sagarra, J., Luquot, L., Martinez-Perez, L., Saaltink, M.W., De Gaspari, F., Carrera, J., 2016. Simulation of chemical reaction localization using a multi-porosity reactive transport approach. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 59–68. Tatomir, A., Halisch, M., Duschl, F., Peche, A., Wiegand, B., Schaffer, M., Licha, T., Bensabat, J., Niemi, A., Sauter, M., 2016. An integrated core-based analysis for characterization of flow, transport and mineralogical parameters of the Heletz pilot CO2 storage site reservoir. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 24–43. Zhang, F., Juhlin, C., Niemi, A., Huang, F., Bensabat, J., 2016. A feasibility and efficiency study of seismic waveform inversion for time-lapse monitoring of onshore CO2 geological storage sites using reflection seismic acquisition geometries. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 48, 134–141.
Auli Niemi ∗ Uppsala University, Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden Philippe Gouze Géosciences Montpellier, CNRS, U. Montpellier, France Jacob Bensabat EWRE Ltd, Haifa, Israel ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Niemi)
Available online 20 February 2016