1.
Can Carbon Capture and Storage Clean up Fossil Fuels
Geoffrey Thyne
Enhanced Oil Recovery
Institute
University of Wyoming

2.
Main Points
 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.
 CCS is a potentially viable approach, but with legislation
(international and national) creating a carbon-constrained world.
 Legal/Regulatory framework is under construction, but the political
will is questionable.
 CCS industry will be on scale of oil and gas industry in terms of
infrastructure, personnel and $$$.
 Expense is uncertain until large scale projects are completed, but
the likely cost is on order of $1 trillion/year.

3.
Carbon (Dioxide) Emissions and Climate Change
 Increase in atmosphere is “linked” to climate changes.
 There is still no proof of the link.

4.
Technology Options for Stabilization
The Stabilisation Wedge
Emission trajectory to achieve 500ppm
Emission trajectory BAU
1 GtC Slices of the Stabilisation Wedge

5.
Carbon Capture and Sequestration
 First step is capture of carbon applied to large point sources that
currently emit 10,500MtCO2/year (e.g. power stations).
 CO2 would be compressed and transported for storage and use.

6.
Large Stationary CO2 Sources
•carbon dioxide sources >0.1 MtCO2/yr
•most (75 %) CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion/processing (coal-fired
power plants are almost 3 wedges)

7.
North American CO2 Sources

8.
Four basic systems
 Post combustion
 Pre combustion
 Oxyfuel
 Industrial
All gas is mostly CO2 plus N2,
CO, SO2, etc.
All Methods capture 80-95%
of CO2
Carbon Dioxide Capture

9.
Carbon Dioxide Capture
Matching captured CO2 to target (P-T)
Four basic systems
 Pre combustion
 Post combustion
 Oxyfuel
 Industrial
Separation stage CO2

10.
Carbon Captured vs. Carbon Avoided
PC+ Capture
(500 MW)
Tons
of
CO2

11.
Carbon Captured vs. Carbon Avoided
PC+ Capture
(500 MW)
Tons
of
CO2
90%
capture

12.
Carbon Captured vs. Carbon Avoided
PC+ Capture
(500 MW)
Tons
of
CO2
90%
capture
Carbon Captured

13.
Carbon Captured vs. Carbon Avoided
PC+ Capture
(500 MW)
Tons
of
CO2
90%
capture
Carbon Captured
PC
(500 MW)

14.
Carbon Captured vs. Carbon Avoided

15.
Sequestration Targets
 Terrestrial
 Release into the atmosphere for incorporation into biomass
(short term - 10-100’s years)
 Oceanic
 Release into ocean for dissolution and dispersion (medium
term – 100-1000’s years)
 Geologic
 Injection into subsurface (long term – 10,000-1,000,000’s
years)

16.
Sequestration Targets
 Atmospheric
 Oceanic
 Geologic

17.
Sequestration Targets
 Atmospheric
 Oceanic
 Geologic Disposal into deep ocean locations
Much of the ocean is deep enough for CO2
to remain liquid phase
(average ocean depth is 12,460 feet)
Largest potential storage capacity
(2,000 - 12,000GtCO2 – worldwide)
Storage time 100’s – 1000’s years
Potential ecological damage (pH change)
Models and small scale projects only
Characteristics

18.
Sequestration Targets
 Atmospheric
 Oceanic
 Geologic

19.
Sequestration Targets
 Atmospheric
 Oceanic
 Geologic
Disposal into subsurface locations
Deep enough to remain supercritical
(greater than 2500 feet depth)
Large potential storage capacity
(200 - 2,000GtCO2 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

20.
CO2 trapping
mechanisms

21.
Carbon Dioxide Phase Behavior
Supercritical Fluid is a liquid-like gas
Gas-like viscosity, fluid-like
compressibility and solvent behavior
CO2 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

22.
Carbon Storage
Geological Sequestration
 want to inject to greater than
800 m depth
 CO2 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

23.
 Terrestrial, Oceanic and
Geologic P and T
conditions.
 Ocean conditions allow
disposal of liquid CO2
 Geologic conditions
allow disposal of
supercritical CO2
Carbon Dioxide Phase Behavior and
Sequestration

24.
 need geologic site that will hold
CO2 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

25.
Geological Carbon Sequestration
Leakage Paths

26.
Carbon Capture and Sequestration

27.
CCS relative cost
Capture + Pressurization
 Cost data from
IGPCC 2005
 Includes cost of
compression to
pipeline pressure
(1500 psi)
Separation stage CO2
45% difference

28.
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 4
2002US$/tCO2 per
250km for an
onshore pipe
Separation stage CO2
37% difference

29.
CCS relative cost
Capture + Pressurization + Transport
+ Storage (Oceanic and Geologic)
 Oceanic - For
transport (ship)
distance of 100-
500km 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

30.
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

31.
Pilot Projects
 Sleipner, Norway (North Sea)
 Weyburn Project, Saskatchewan (Canada)

32.
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

33.
Pilot Projects: Sleipner
 special platform, Sleipner
T, built to separate CO2
from natural gas
 supports 20 m (65 ft) tall,
8,000 ton treatment plant
 plant produces 1 million tons
of CO2
 also handles gas piped from
Sleipner West
 Norway has a carbon tax of
about $50/ton for any CO2
emitted to the atmosphere
 to avoid the tax, Statoil has
re-injected CO2
underground since
production began in 1996

34.
 production is from Heimdal
Formation
 2,500 m (8,200 ft) below
sea level
 produces natural gas -
mixture of hydrocarbons
(methane (CH4), ethane
(C2H6), butane (C4H10)),
gases (N2, O2, CO2, sulfur
compounds, water)
 the natural gas at Sleipner
has 9 % CO2
Pilot Projects: Sleipner

35.
 CO2 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
 CO2 storage capacity
estimated at 600 billion
tons (20 years of world
CO2 emissions)
 millions tons CO2 stored
since 1996
 first commercial storage of
CO2 in deep, saline aquifer
Pilot Projects: Sleipner

36.
 seismic surveys
conducted to determine
location of CO2
 results shown in diagram
to left
 Optimum conditions for
geophysical imaging
Pilot Projects: Sleipner

37.
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.