Research Projects
Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP) SUBSURFACE MONITORING OF CO2 SEQUESTRATION (GCEP) Monitoring CO2 sequestration involves determining the large-scale spatial migration of CO2 in the subsurface. Monitoring will be needed for licensing purposes, performance assessment, leak detection, and regulatory oversight. While it is clear that effective monitoring will require site-specific solutions, there are many problems common to all geologic options whether they be depleted oil/gas reservoirs, saline aquifers, or coal beds. Generally speaking, these problems involve detecting fluids in the presence of other types of heterogeneity over several orders of magnitude in scale: (1) pore and grain scale for description of the displacement processes; (2) wavelength scale for simulation and imaging purposes; (3) process scale of fluid flow; and (4) reservoir scale for performance assessment and leak detection. Geophysical methods target these problems with three distinct yet complementary imaging technologies: (a) logs; (b) inter-well imaging; (c) surface-based imaging. The scientific goals of the GCEP monitoring project include improving our understanding of the processes and mechanisms influencing geophysical observables and fluid flow in porous media. The project goal is to develop low cost imaging methods with real-time subsurface monitoring capabilities. |
