ULTimateCO₂ - Understanding the long-term fate of geologically stored CO₂

Begin of project: December 1, 2011

End of project: November 30, 2015

Status of project: April 1, 2015

Source: ULTimateCO2

The 4-year collaborative programme of ULTimateCO₂ will cover detailed lab, field and modelling studies of the main physical and chemical processes involved and their impacts in the long term:

• trapping mechanisms in the reservoir (structural, dissolution, residual, mineral),
• fluid-rock interactions and effects on mechanical integrity of fractured cap rock and faulted systems and
• leakage due to mechanical & chemical damage in the well vicinity.

Integration of the results will enable an assessment of overall long-term behaviour of storage sites at regional scale in terms of efficiency and security, also including other important aspects, e.g. far-field brine displacement and fluid mixing.
The long-term prediction of CO₂ evolution during geological storage will thus become more robust, not only by addressing the uncertainty associated with numerical modelling, but also by applying realistic contexts and scales. The latter will be ensured through close collaboration with at least two demonstration sites in deep saline sandstone formations: the onshore NER300 Ouest Lorraine candidate in France (ArcelorMittal GeoLorraine) and the offshore EEPR Hatfield site in UK (National Grid).

ULTimateCO₂ will develop recommendations for operators and regulators to enable a robust demonstration of the assessment of long-term storage site performance. Scientific knowledge on the long-term efficiency and safety of CO₂ storage will be disseminated widely to a broad audience, so that not only operators of demo sites will benefit, but also other stakeholder groups, including policy makers and regulators, storage developers, investors, the scientific community, and representatives of the general public.

In ULTimateCO₂, BGR investigates the following issues:
1) quality and sensitivity analyses of fundamental thermodynamic parameters for geochemical simulations;
2) natural analogue studies on geochemical interactions between potential reservoir rock formations and CO₂-containing mineral waters;
3) geo-statistical analysis of fracture patterns and physical properties at natural analogue sites to assess scale dependency of fluid and mass transport in fractured systems; development of a fracture model.

ULTimateCO2 Homepage

Partner:

BUREAU DE RECHERCHES GEOLOGIQUES ET MINIERES, France
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH COUNCIL NERC, United Kingdom
CO2SENSE LIMITED, United Kingdom
EIFER EUROPAISCHES INSTITUT FUR ENERGIEFORSCHUNG EDF-KIT, Germany
GEOGREEN, France
The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Denmark
IFP Energies nouvelles, France
CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE, Italy
PHI-MECA ENGINEERING, France
NEDERLANDSE ORGANISATIE VOOR TOEGEPAST NATUURWETENSCHAPPELIJK ONDERZOEK - TNO, Netherlands
UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHT, Netherlands