Applying monitoring, verification, and accounting techniques to a real-world, enhanced oil recovery operational CO2 leak

AbstractThe use of carbon dioxide (CO2) for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is being tested for oil fields in the Illinois Basin, USA. While this technology has shown promise for improving oil production, it has raised some issues about the safety of CO2 injection and storage. The Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC) organized a Monitoring, Verification, and Accounting (MVA) team to develop and deploy monitoring programs at three EOR sites in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky, USA. MVA goals include establishing baseline conditions to evaluate potential impacts from CO2 injection, demonstrating that project activities are protective of human health and the environment, and providing an accurate accounting of stored CO2. This paper focuses on the use of MVA techniques in monitoring a small CO2 leak from a supply line at an EOR facility under real-world conditions.The ability of shallow monitoring techniques to detect and quantify a CO2 leak under real-world conditions has been largely unproven. In July of 2009, a leak in the pipe supplying pressurized CO2 to an injection well was observed at an MGSC EOR site located in west-central Kentucky. Carbon dioxide was escaping from the supply pipe located approximately 1 m underground. The leak was discovered visually by site personnel and injection was halted immediately. At its largest extent, the hole created by the leak was approximately 1.9 m long by 1.7 m wide and 0.7 m deep in the land surface. This circumstance provided an excellent opportunity to evaluate the performance of several monitoring techniques including soil CO2 flux measurements, portable infrared gas analysis, thermal infrared imagery, and aerial hyperspectral imagery.Valuable experience was gained during this effort. Lessons learned included determining (1) hyperspectral imagery was not effective in detecting this relatively small, short-term CO2 leak, (2) even though injection was halted, the leak remained dynamic and presented a safety risk concern during monitoring activities and, (3) the atmospheric and soil monitoring techniques used were relatively cost-effective, easily and rapidly deployable, and required minimal manpower to set up and maintain for short-term assessments. However, characterization of CO2 distribution near the land surface resulting from a dynamic leak with widely variable concentrations and fluxes was challenging

Evaluation through laboratory studies : impact of the material to be excavated from the Illinois SSC tunnel on surface water and groundwater supplies

Ope

A Multi-Level Approach to Outreach for Geologic Sequestration Projects

AbstractPublic perception of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects represents a potential barrier to commercialization. Outreach to stakeholders at the local, regional, and national level is needed to create familiarity with and potential acceptance of CCS projects. This paper highlights the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC) multi-level outreach approach which interacts with multiple stakeholders. The MGSC approach focuses on external and internal communication. External communication has resulted in building regional public understanding of CCS. Internal communication, through a project Risk Assessment process, has resulted in enhanced team communication and preparation of team members for outreach roles

Preliminary Hydrogeologic Investigation of the FutureGen 2 Site in Morgan County, Illinois.

In anticipation of the FutureGen 2 carbon sequestration activities in Morgan County (Section 25, Township 16 North, Range 9 West), field work was conducted to describe shallow geologic conditions and characterize shallow groundwater quality at the site. The Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) drilled one shallow stratigraphic boring to 230 feet. Bedrock was encountered at 123.5 feet below the land surface. No aquifer material was encountered in the Quaternary material or in the bedrock. A shallow groundwater monitoring well was installed at a depth of 20 feet and developed to ensure water levels and water quality within the well were representative of in situ conditions. A surficial 2-D seismic survey and an electrical earth resistivity (EER) survey were conducted at the site. The seismic survey was conducted before drilling primarily to assess the presence of shallow natural gas. None was detected. An EER survey was conducted following installation of the shallow monitoring well to assess whether aquifer materials were present at other locations in the vicinity of the shallow well. Results from the EER survey indicated a slight increase in resistivity to the southwest and southeast. The higher resistivity may indicate a slight increase in the occurrence of shallow sand in those directions. Water from 10 private water supply wells and the shallow groundwater monitoring well were sampled between October 25 and November 17, 2011. Most constituent concentrations were less than the drinking water standards. Iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), nitrate (NO3), and total dissolved solids (TDS) were the only constituents whose concentrations exceeded USEPA primary or secondary standards in some of the groundwater samples. Groundwater samples from two wells contained nitrate concentrations above the EPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL), 10 mg NO3-N/L. The concentrations of nitrate in the samples from these wells were also significantly greater than those detected in other samples. This report summarizes results from the stratigraphic bore hole, the geophysical surveys, and analytical results from groundwater sampling.US Department of Energypublished or submitted for publicatio

Field study of transit time through compacted clays : interim annual report

Interim annual report, July 1, 1989 to June 30, 1990Ope

Possible Geological-Geochemical Sources of Ammonium in Groundwater: Preliminary Results

Ammonium has been detected in water wells in relatively large (>2 mg/L) concentrations in east-central Illinois and in central Iowa. Ammonium can interfere with drinking-water disinfection, and can be converted into nitrate and nitrite. The possible sources of ammonium in groundwater include fertilizers, landfill leachate, and wastewater disposal. However, the hypothesis of this study is that ammonium in groundwater can occur naturally from subsurface organic zones such as buried soils. Historical data indicated that ammonium has been detected in groundwater samples in relatively large concentrations before the current, voluminous use of nitrogen-containing fertilizers. The approach being used in this study is to conduct laboratory and field work to provide data on the possible link between buried organic material in Quaternary-age deposits and ammonium in water-wells. The results of the first year of this project indicate that the Robein silt is a potential source of ammonium in groundwater via dissolution, ion exchange, and mineralization reactions. The Robein silt can also retain ammonium via sorption. Enhanced (>2 mg/L) concentrations of ammonium were detected in water samples collected from wells located in two study areas (Champaign and Piatt Counties). However, there was insufficient evidence to link the ammonium in the well samples specifically with the Robein silt. On-going research will include the collection of additional groundwater samples, and the soil physical chemical characterization of recently collected soil samples.Ope

Geochemical Interactions of Hazardous Wastes with Geological Formations in Deep-Well Systems

Office of Drinking Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Cooperative Agreement CR 813-147-01HWRIC Project Number 86015NTIS PB89-19716

Field Study of Transit Time of Water and Tracers Through a Soil Liner

HWRIC Project 88-04