Passive Seismic Monitoring for Carbon Storage Site Characterization

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a key element in the USA’s carbon emissions reduction strategy. A critical requirement in geologic carbon storage is monitoring, validation and accounting for CO2 during and after injection. The purpose of this proposal is to support the development of a turnkey microseismic monitoring service that would help ensure the safe operation of industrial scale CO2 storage facilities. Specifically, this would enable operators of CCS facilities to make better operational decisions about the state of the storage formation, CO2 injection rates, and reservoir integrity. Ensuring safe operation of any storage facility is critical to the long-term effectiveness of this approach. Reducing or eliminating significant seismic events is also critical to public perception and acceptance. This Phase 1 proposal covers modeling, design, and planning for the installation and operation of a turnkey, long-term, real-time seismic monitoring service for CCS facilities in the USA, and the selection of a test site on which to validate the service. Phase 2 of the project will include installation of a prototypical system consisting of a permanent array of shallow bore geophones, autonomous data collection and telemetry, and automated event detection and location system, all connected to the CCS facility operations center at the selected site. MicroSeismic Inc. has been installing and operating seismic monitoring systems for more than 15 years, primarily for oil and gas facilities. We have considerable experience in all aspects of this project from design to installation and operation. The monitoring system as envisioned here would typically detect and locate events down to Mw ~ -3, with location uncertainties on the order of 10s to 100s of feet. A real-time system like this can post an event detection within 10 minutes of occurrence. Automated alerts can be configured for critical events. We see this proposal as a customization of an already successful product.