Verification of CO2 Storage in Coal Beds

The injection and storage of captured CO2 in coal beds has been suggested as a strategy to reduce industrial emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere. The sequestration process involves the adsorption by coal of injected CO2 and an associated desorption of CH4 whose production can partially offset the operational cost. The acceptance of this strategy depends on: the ability to effectively monitor the sequestration process for risk assessment (e.g. potential leaks), and the ability to verify the amounts of CO2 that are presumed stored. The proposed project addresses these issues. In the Phase I project we will: (1) investigate the feasibility of an interdisciplinary procedure for verification of CO2 storage in coal beds using time-lapse seismic images generated from spatially sparse but temporarily frequent arrays, and (2) lay the foundation for integrating image super-resolution, rock physics, reservoir simulation, history matching, and mathematical optimization technologies in this procedure, which will be expanded, fully implemented, and corroborated with field data, in Phase II. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits: The market for Oil and gas seismic services is about $7 Billion. The market for related software is about $2 Billion. Pending legislation for carbon capture and sequestration, we expect a similar market to develop and grow for monitoring and verification assessment of geologic storage of CO2. The technologies developed in the proposed project will also have a market in the Oil & Gas industry, and in environmental and geotechnical applications. Primary and first market entry will however be for monitoring and verification of carbon storage, an important market since it will be applied to critical U.S. energy sources such as coal fired power plants, gas fired power plants, and oil refineries.