| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/C536754/1 |
| Title: |
Pore-Scale Modelling of Precipitation and Dissolution During Carbon Dioxide Sequestration |
| Principal Investigator: |
Blunt, Professor MJ |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Department of Earth Sciences |
| Organisation: |
Imperial College London |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 September 2005 |
Ends: |
31 August 2008 |
Value (£): |
204,926
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Gas & Solution Phase Reactions |
Oil & Gas Extraction |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| Manufacturing |
Environment |
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| Panel History: |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Underground injection of carbon dioxide (C02) captured from fossil-fuel burning power stations is one possible method to reduce C02 emissions to the atmosphere. An attractive possible site for sequestration is the North Sea. This is a major oil and gas producing province containing relatively wellcharacterized geological formations with an existing pipeline infrastructure close to fossil-fuel burning power stations in the UK. The UK has a strategic opportunity to take a lead in demonstrating C02 sequestration: the economic benefit of enhanced oil recovery may significantly offset the costs associated with the project, particularly at present high oil prices.While it is possible to oil industry expertise to model and implement C02 injection - currently there are 36 active C02 injection projects for improved oil recovery in the world - there are a number of important scientific questions that need to be answered before this can be accepted as a standard technique for mitigating atmospheric C02 emissions. One of these is to determine the long-term fate of C02 - in particular to assess the impact of reaction between C02 and the porous rock in which it is contained.Over hundred to thousand years timescales CO2 can both dissolve the host rock, or be precipitated. Dissolution may cause the C02 to escape, while precipitation renders the C02 immobile.This proposal will model multiphase (oil, water and CO2) flow, transport and reaction in porous media to predict changes in rock properties during sequestration. The model will use three-dimensional pore-space images of reservoir rock and will accurately represent all the relevant physical and chemical processes. The predictions will be validated against literature experimental data, where available, and will then make predictions for cases where experiments are hard to perform, such as when oil, water and CO2 are all present in the pore space. The aim of the research is to allow the long-term assessment of C02 storage to be made with confidence.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.imperial.ac.uk |