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Carbon capture, transport and storage (CCS) is a very active field of research, because of its potential to make large reductions of emissions from fossil fuel combustion relevant to climate change. This paper reviews the recent and current work on practical injections of CO2 as research tests for storage projects and specifically focuses on industrial-scale or relevant injections into saline formations (about 1 Mt CO2 per year). All injection projects around the world have been reviewed, and 20 are reported to compile, depth, reservoir quality and injectivity, cost, and rate. This shows that testing of injection is concentrated onshore; however the projects with the highest total CO2 storage estimate are offshore. Pipeline transport systems are mostly used for the large projects. Formations targeted in the injection process are sandstone or carbonate. In the majority of cases initial projections of injectivity are confirmed in tests. A variety of monitoring techniques are used in all projects, these have detected CO2, but have not shown unexpected CO2 movement. Practical experiences of CO2 injection operations therefore suggest that similar operations can be successfully carried out in the saline formations of the UK North Sea and other large sedimentary basins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: CO2 storage in depleted gas fields is attractive but gas fields are unequally distributed geographically and can be utilized only within a restricted window of opportunity. Therefore, CO2 storage in saline aquifers can be expected to become an important element of CO2 capture and storage (CCS) systems. CO2 storage in saline aquifers is studied in the European DYNAMIS project, where special attention was paid to the relation between the geological structure, geological properties and achievable injection rates. This paper presents the results from simulations of CO2 storage in two aquifer structures. One aquifer structure is located in the English sector of the Southern North Sea and one aquifer structure located in Northern Germany. The geological model of the Southern North Sea structure was built using existing knowledge of facies geometry and distribution from literature and well logs and the overall geometry from interpreted horizons. The distributions of properties like lithology, net-to-gross ratios, porosity and permeability were stochastically modelled to represent the braided and meandering river and fan systems within the Bunter Sandstone Formation. High-porosity and high-permeability zones model fluvial channels running through the reservoir. A different approach was chosen for the North German structure. Because there is no information on the facies or petrophysical parameter distribution of the aquifer, three different model scenarios were generated. One model was created with homogeneous properties throughout the aquifer. Two other model scenarios were generated allowing the porosity and permeability to vary within certain ranges. This was done using a sequential Gaussian simulation with the known mean, minimum and maximum values of porosity and permeability, respectively. Due to the size of the aquifer structures and computing limits, up-scaling of the geological model of the Southern North Sea was required. The up-scaling was aimed to retain as much as possible of the modelled geological features such as braided river and fan systems. Several reservoir simulations were carried out in collaboration between TNO and IFP to assess CO2 injection. Given the injection rate constraints, the aim of the injection simulations was to: [•] assess the achievable rate of injection; [•] study the migration and behavior of the CO2 in the reservoir; [•] assess the most appropriate location(s) for the CO2 injection wells using alternate injection strategies. The injection strategy is relevant especially for the Southern North Sea structure, where river and fan systems may results in high-permeability zones through the reservoir. Accessing such systems may significantly improve a reservoir’s value for CO2 storage. The effect of such systems on the injection rates is demonstrated. The reservoir simulations also demonstrate the injection rates that can be achieved in tight reservoirs as in the North Germany case, and the effect of spatial variability of geological parameters. This will show whether it is reasonable to assume spatial geological homogeneity, when data on the reservoir formation are scarce. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper reports the results of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) of a hypothetical 400 MWe IGCC power plant fitted with CO2 capture technology and includes the transportation of CO2 via a high pressure pipeline to a geological formation under the North Sea and subsequent storage. The emphasis has been on assessing environmental impacts from those features which are specific to the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology and includes an appraisal of the current adequacy of information to enable EIAs for the power plant, transportation and storage components to be undertaken. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]