Can Carbon Capture and Storage Clean up Fossil Fuels Geoffrey Thyne Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute University of Wyoming

Conclusions  Ultimately CCS is viable only if legislation (international and national) produces a carbon-constrained world.  Legal/Regulatory framework under construction.  CCS industry will be on scale of oil and gas industry (largest in human history).  Expense is uncertain until large scale project completed, but on order of $1 trillion/year to build CCS industry.  Possible with current science and technologies.  Future technological advances will reduce cost, improve efficiency and enhance safety.  More scientific work needs to be done.  There is technical knowledge and experience within petroleum industry.

Carbon (Dioxide) Emissions and Climate Change  Increase in atmosphere is “linked” to climate changes.  There is still no proof of the link.

Carbon Capture and Sequestration  First step is capture of carbon applied to large point sources that currently emit 10,500MtCO 2 /year (e.g. power stations).  CO 2 would be compressed and transported for storage and use.

Large Stationary CO 2 Sources carbon dioxide sources >0.1 MtCO 2 /yr most (75 %) CO 2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion/processing (coal-fired power plants are almost 3 wedges)

Four basic systems  Post combustion  Pre combustion  Oxyfuel  Industrial All gas is mostly CO 2 plus N 2, CO, SO 2, etc. All Methods capture 80-95% of CO 2 Carbon Dioxide Capture

Four basic systems  Pre combustion  Post combustion  Oxyfuel  Industrial Separation stage CO2

Sequestration Targets  Terrestrial  Release into the atmosphere for incorporation into biomass (short term ’s years)  Oceanic  Release into ocean for dissolution and dispersion (medium term – ’s years)  Geologic  Injection into subsurface (long term – 10,000-1,000,000’s years)

Sequestration Targets  Atmospheric  Oceanic  Geologic

Sequestration Targets  Atmospheric  Oceanic  Geologic Disposal into deep ocean locations Much of the ocean is deep enough for CO 2 to remain liquid phase (average ocean depth is 12,460 feet) Largest potential storage capacity (2, ,000GtCO 2 – worldwide) Storage time 100’s – 1000’s years Potential ecological damage (pH change) Models and small scale projects only Characteristics

Sequestration Targets  Atmospheric  Oceanic  Geologic Disposal costs are fairly well known Distance and volume are primary considerations (inverse relationship)

Sequestration Targets  Atmospheric  Oceanic  Geologic

Sequestration Targets  Atmospheric  Oceanic  Geologic Disposal into subsurface locations Deep enough to remain supercritical (greater than 2500 feet depth) Large potential storage capacity ( ,000GtCO 2 worldwide) Storage time 10,000’s – 1,000,000’s years Potential ecological damage (point source leaks) 40+ years experience in petroleum EOR operations and sour gas disposal Characteristics

Carbon Dioxide Phase Behavior  Supercritical Fluid is a liquid-like gas  Gas-like viscosity, fluid-like compressibility and solvent behavior  CO 2 above critical T and P (31°C and 73.8 bar or 1085 psi)  Density about 50% of water  Combustion product from fossil fuel  GHG  Four phases of interest

Carbon Storage Geological Sequestration  want to inject to greater than 800 m depth  CO 2 in supercritical state  behaves like a fluid with properties that are mixture of liquid and gas  also stores more in given volume  price to pay in compressing gas

 Terrestrial, Oceanic and Geologic P and T conditions.  Ocean conditions allow disposal of liquid CO 2  Geologic conditions allow disposal of supercritical CO 2 Carbon Dioxide Phase Behavior and Sequestration

 need geologic site that will hold CO 2 safely for 1000s of years – natural analogs  four possible geologic targets  enhanced oil and gas recovery  depleted oil and gas fields  saline aquifers  enhanced CBM recovery Geological Carbon Sequestration

Geological Carbon Sequestration Leakage Paths

CCS relative cost Capture + Pressurization  Cost data from IGPCC 2005  Includes cost of compression to pipeline pressure (1500 psi) Separation stage CO2 45% difference

CCS relative cost Capture + Pressurization + Transport  Price highly dependent on volume per year.  Includes construction, O&M, design, insurance, right of ways.  for capacities of >5 MtCO2 yr-1 the cost is between 2 and US$/tCO2 per 250km for an onshore pipe Separation stage CO2 37% difference

CCS relative cost Capture + Pressurization + Transport + Storage (Oceanic and Geologic)  Oceanic - For transport (ship) distance of km and injection depths of 3000m  Geologic - For storage in onshore, shallow, highly permeable reservoir with pre- existing infrastructure Separation stage CO2 31% difference 23% difference

CCS relative cost Capture + Pressurization + Transport + Storage (Oceanic and Geologic) – EOR Offset  Assuming oil price of $50 bbl.  Without Sequestration Credit (Carbon Tax) Separation stage CO2

Pilot Projects  Sleipner, Norway (North Sea)  Weyburn Project, Saskatchewan (Canada)

Pilot Projects: Sleipner  Sleipner is a North Sea gas field  operated by Statoil, Norway’s largest oil company  produces natural gas for European market  in North Sea, hydrocarbons are produced from platforms

Pilot Projects: Sleipner  special platform, Sleipner T, built to separate CO 2 from natural gas  supports 20 m (65 ft) tall, 8,000 ton treatment plant  plant produces 1 million tons of CO 2  also handles gas piped from Sleipner West  Norway has a carbon tax of about $50/ton for any CO 2 emitted to the atmosphere  to avoid the tax, Statoil has re-injected CO 2 underground since production began in 1996

 production is from Heimdal Formation  2,500 m (8,200 ft) below sea level  produces natural gas - mixture of hydrocarbons (methane (CH 4 ), ethane (C 2 H 6 ), butane (C 4 H 10 )), gases (N 2, O 2, CO 2, sulfur compounds, water)  the natural gas at Sleipner has 9 % CO 2 Pilot Projects: Sleipner

 CO 2 injected into Utsira Formation  high porosity & permeability sandstone layer  250 m thick and 800 m (2,600 ft) below sea bed  filled with saline water, not oil or gas  CO 2 storage capacity estimated at 600 billion tons (20 years of world CO 2 emissions)  millions tons CO 2 stored since 1996  first commercial storage of CO 2 in deep, saline aquifer Pilot Projects: Sleipner

 seismic surveys conducted to determine location of CO 2  results shown in diagram to left  Optimum conditions for geophysical imaging Pilot Projects: Sleipner

Conclusions  Ultimately CCS is viable only if legislation (international and national) produces a carbon-constrained world.  Legal/Regulatory framework under construction.  CCS industry will be on scale of oil and gas industry (largest in human history).  Expense is uncertain until large scale project completed, but on order of $1 trillion/year to build CCS industry.  Possible with current science and technologies.  Future technological advances will reduce cost, improve efficiency and enhance safety.  More scientific work needs to be done.  There is technical knowledge and experience within petroleum industry.