CO2 Storage Engineering: Real Solution to Real Problems

Abstract

Abstract Deep saline aquifers offer the potential for storing large volumes of CO2. However, with conventional CO2 storage well design and operating practices, only a small fraction of this large CO2 storage potential can be productively used. Numerous alternative designs and practices, which utilize the reservoir’s internal architecture and draw on CO2 storage engineering expertise, could enable CO2 storage operators to more efficiently and fully utilize a saline formation’s storage capacity. This would help reduce the areal extent of the CO2 plume and its risk footprint. It would also help reduce the number of CO2 injection wells and patterns that would need to be developed. This paper, entitled "CO2 Storage Engineering: Real Solution to Real Problems", discusses practical CO2 storage options that have been proposed for significantly increasing CO2 storage performance at three challenging saline reservoir settings.