Subsurface CO2 storage - Critical Elements and Superior Strategy

The SUCCESS center for subsurface CO2 storage was awarded FME status in 2009 and was formally inaugurated January 1st, 2010. A key to public acceptance and successful deployment of CCS, the FME SUCCESS center focuses on effective and safe storage of CO2. To meet with regulatory requirements for Measurement, Monitoring and Verification (MMV), the SUCCESS center has seeked to provide a sound scientific knowledge base for CO2 injection, storage and monitoring. Such knowledge is vital in order to ensure conformance (concordance between observed and predicted behavior), containment (proving storage performance in terms of security of CO2 retention) and contingency (leakage quantification and environmental impacts). A strength of the FME SUCCESS center, our staff expertise within theoretical research is internationally recognized. The center has focused on basic research, interpreting the results of field and laboratory experiments in order to predict the long-term effects of CO2 storage. In particular, the center has used the theoretical platform to address critical and relevant scientific issues related to CO2 storage. The Snøhvit and Sleipner CO2 field pilots have provided important operational data and the Longyearbyen CO2 Lab has been an important test site for the SUCCESS center. Following the mid-term evaluation, major changes in the organization and operational structure were employed, including reorganizing of the scientific activities into three work packages: WP 1: Reservoir, WP 2: Containment, WP 3: Monitoring. An integration Work Package, WP0, was established for the final two year-period of the center. WP0 aims to test and verify new knowledge and methodology developed in the SUCCESS center on two case studies, the Smeaheia (deep, confined reservoir) and Skade (shallow, saline aquifer) CO2 reservoir candidates. The collective work of the SUCCESS center has concentrated on five specific topics. The work on storage capability is particularly relevant to storage site selection and Norwegian CO2 storage capacity estimates, based on better constrained trapping efficiency and immobilization potential. The leakage risks work addresses important issues regarding safe operation of CO2 storage and risk management. The work on injectivity provides valuable knowledge on the planning of CO2 operations and reservoir utilization. Finally, there are two reports on monitoring: the work on geophysical monitoring addresses methods for measurement, monitoring and verification (MMV) of the subsurface; while the work on marine monitoring is particularly relevant to risk management and mitigation in the event of leakage to the water column. 1) Storage capability. The SUCCESS center?s work on storage capability, which is the ability of a formation to safely store CO2, includes identification of geological factors and hydro-geomechanical processes that are critical for determining storage capability. 2) leakage risks.Through field, experimental and theoretical studies of potential leakage mechanisms, the SUCCESS centre has demonstrated that viscous deformation of shales can play an important role in their ability to keep CO2 contained and that material properties and their dynamic behavior in response to the stress introduced by CO2 injection need to be evaluated in order to safeguard operations. 3) Injectivity. Experimental and computational work in the SUCCESS centre have enhanced our understanding of reservoir injectivity, including understanding of mechanisms, quantification of expected impact and model calibration. A main outcome is a workflow that includes new computational tools, new geochemical and geomechanical experimental design/data and research-based advice. 4) Geophysical monitoring. The SUCCESS center work on rock physics includes estimating pore pressure and saturation from geophysical monitoring. By estimating their spatiotemporal distribution, we can monitor the migration of injected CO2 and determine whether the containment of storage complex is secure. 5) Marine monitoring: The Success centre includes marine monitoring methods and strategies for determining inorganic carbon in the water column, based on modeling and observational work. A cost-effective strategy for a marine monitoring program should optimize the probability of detecting a leak. The SUCCESS centre metrics merit a qualitatively and quantitatively high scientific production and output. The centre has produced altogether 147 peer reviewed scientific papers, 37 anthology articles, 365 reports and 87 popular science/media publications. A total of 47 PhDs and Post docs have been engaged in the SUCCESS centre and associated project portfolio in the period 2010-2018. Of the 47, 25 are currently employed in academia, 10 in industry and 12 are still in education, or have unknown employment relations. The number of Master students in the Centre sum up to 35. The overall gender ratio is 61,7% males and 31,3% females.

The SUCCESS project addresses 4 important areas for CO2 storage in the subsurface: storage performance, sealing properties, monitoring and consequences for the marine environment. The ?CO2-School? is in addition a major educational program facilitated by the project and the 3 universities that are involved (UiB, UiO, UNIS). The selected activities, which are considered to fill important kowledge gaps or be critical elements, will involve fundamental experimental and theoretical work, analysis of samples f rom outcrops and case studies, development of mathematical models, modelling activities and testing in case study environments. We will as far as possible try to bridge gaps from details to concepts and applications, from small to large scale, and to tran sfer data and knowledge between many related fields. The SUCCESS consortium possesses strong competency in the fields of sedimentology and structural geology, fluid flow, reservoir characterization and modelling, mathematical modelling, experimental fluid flow and mineral reactions, geochemistry, geomechanics, petrophysics and marine ecology. In addition the team will cooperate internationally in research networks and with cutting edge institutions. This will, in association with intimate industry coopera tion, secure a perspective on the work that is both focussed on details, varied in solutions, and directed towards applications that will be operated by the industry.