Carbon Dioxide Storage Potential of the Basal Saline System in the Alberta and Williston Basins of North America
The Plains CO2 Reduction (PCOR) Partnership led by the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) and partnered with Alberta Innovates - Technology Futures (AITF) conducted a 3-year study to determine the potential for geologic storage of CO2 in the basal saline system of central North America. This system extends from northern South Dakota in the United States to central Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada, covering an area of approximately 1.5 million km2. The basal saline system lies directly on top of igneous and metamorphic basement rocks and, except for outcrop areas, is confined by sealing formations that include shales, tight carbonates, and evaporites. The thickness of the system is up to 300 m, with permeability ranging from 0.0001 to 1250 mD and porosity ranging from 0.01% to 25%. A 3-D geocellular model encompassing the entire system was constructed using available data. The model incorporates the internal architecture of numerous facies changes and petrophysical properties of this heterogeneous system. Based on the model, the static volumetric CO2 storage resource potential of this saline system is 480 billion tonnes. To better validate this storage potential, two scenarios, comprising a total of 16 injection simulation cases, were investigated to better understand the site-specific characteristics which may affect the CO2 storage capacity of this system. Simulation cases investigated several options to increase injectivity and maximize the storage efficienView/Download Document
Event/Meeting Information
13th Annual Carbon Capture, Utilization, & Storage Conference
4/28/2014
Pittsburgh, PA