Marine CSEM synthetic study to assess the detection of CO2 escape and saturation changes within a submarine chimney connected to a CO2 storage site
Marine CSEM synthetic study to assess the detection of CO2 escape and saturation changes within a submarine chimney connected to a CO2 storage site
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) within sealed geological formations is an essential strategy to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, the primary goal of the 2015 United Nations Paris Agreement. Large-scale commercial development of geological CO
2 storage requires high-resolution remote sensing methods to monitor CO
2 migration during/after injection. A geological formation containing a CO
2 phase in its pore space commonly exhibits higher electrical resistivity than brine-saturated (background) sediments. Here, we explore the added value of the marine controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) method as an additional and relevant geophysical tool to monitor moderate to significant changes in CO
2 saturation within a fluid conduit breaking through the seal of a CCS injection reservoir, using a suite of synthetic studies. Our 2-D CSEM synthetic models simulate various geological scenarios incorporating the main structural features and stratigraphy of two North Sea sites, the Scanner Pockmark and the Sleipner CCS site. Our results show significant differentiation of leakage through the seal with CO
2 saturation (S
CO2) ranging between 20 and 50 per cent, while our rock physics model predicts that detection below 20 per cent would be challenging for CSEM alone. However, we are able to detect with our 2-D inversion models the effects of saturation with 10 and 20 per cent CO
2 within a chimney with 10 per cent porosity. We demonstrate that simultaneous inversion of E
y and E
z synthetic electric field data facilitates a sharper delineation of a CO
2 saturated chimney structure within the seal, whereas E
z synthetic data present higher sensitivity than E
y to S
CO2 variation, demonstrating the importance of acquiring the full 3-D electric field. This study illustrates the value of incorporating CSEM into measurement, monitoring and verification strategies for optimal operation of marine CCS sites.
Carbon capture, Controlled source electromagnetics (CSEM), Electrical resistivity, Marine electromagnetics, Numerical methods, storage
183-206
Yilo, Naima K.
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Weitemeyer, Karen
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Minshull, Timothy A.
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Attias, Eric
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Marin-Moreno, Hector
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Falcon-Suarez, Ismael
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Gehrmann, Romina
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Bull, Jonathan
974037fd-544b-458f-98cc-ce8eca89e3c8
1 January 2024
Yilo, Naima K.
317f9415-f7ab-4277-acf0-51064751b995
Weitemeyer, Karen
22c524f6-b24d-4d2a-a46d-16b06c70a5d1
Minshull, Timothy A.
bf413fb5-849e-4389-acd7-0cb0d644e6b8
Attias, Eric
abf34bba-f99f-47f9-ba89-92df1c488a5e
Marin-Moreno, Hector
e466cafd-bd5c-47a1-8522-e6938e7086a4
Falcon-Suarez, Ismael
f5cdbc61-326b-424d-a90f-593a8698a4d2
Gehrmann, Romina
1ee547b2-aa53-4d38-9d36-a2ccc3aa52e2
Bull, Jonathan
974037fd-544b-458f-98cc-ce8eca89e3c8
Yilo, Naima K., Weitemeyer, Karen, Minshull, Timothy A., Attias, Eric, Marin-Moreno, Hector, Falcon-Suarez, Ismael, Gehrmann, Romina and Bull, Jonathan
(2024)
Marine CSEM synthetic study to assess the detection of CO2 escape and saturation changes within a submarine chimney connected to a CO2 storage site.
Geophysical Journal International, 236 (1), .
(doi:10.1093/gji/ggad366).
Abstract
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) within sealed geological formations is an essential strategy to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, the primary goal of the 2015 United Nations Paris Agreement. Large-scale commercial development of geological CO
2 storage requires high-resolution remote sensing methods to monitor CO
2 migration during/after injection. A geological formation containing a CO
2 phase in its pore space commonly exhibits higher electrical resistivity than brine-saturated (background) sediments. Here, we explore the added value of the marine controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) method as an additional and relevant geophysical tool to monitor moderate to significant changes in CO
2 saturation within a fluid conduit breaking through the seal of a CCS injection reservoir, using a suite of synthetic studies. Our 2-D CSEM synthetic models simulate various geological scenarios incorporating the main structural features and stratigraphy of two North Sea sites, the Scanner Pockmark and the Sleipner CCS site. Our results show significant differentiation of leakage through the seal with CO
2 saturation (S
CO2) ranging between 20 and 50 per cent, while our rock physics model predicts that detection below 20 per cent would be challenging for CSEM alone. However, we are able to detect with our 2-D inversion models the effects of saturation with 10 and 20 per cent CO
2 within a chimney with 10 per cent porosity. We demonstrate that simultaneous inversion of E
y and E
z synthetic electric field data facilitates a sharper delineation of a CO
2 saturated chimney structure within the seal, whereas E
z synthetic data present higher sensitivity than E
y to S
CO2 variation, demonstrating the importance of acquiring the full 3-D electric field. This study illustrates the value of incorporating CSEM into measurement, monitoring and verification strategies for optimal operation of marine CCS sites.
Text
ggad366
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
e-pub ahead of print date: 26 September 2023
Published date: 1 January 2024
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
This paper forms part of the PhD studies of Naima Karolina Yilo. Funding came from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 654462 (STEMM-CCS) and the Natural Environment Research Council (CHIMNEY; NERC Highlight Topic; NE/N016130/1). The work presented was developed as a collaboration between the University of Southampton, the National Oceanography Center and GEOMAR. We thank Christian Berndt and Jens Karstens as the leading scientist on the STEMM-CCS cruise. We thank David Myer for the CSEM data analysis routines. We acknowledge Joonsang Park from the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute for his guidance and insights on the Sleipner CSEM survey. We especially thank Kerry Key for the CSEM inversion and modelling routines and for mentoring Naima Yilo during a visit to the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. We thank Ute Weckmann, Amir Haroon and an anonymous reviewer for their very helpful and constructive comments and supporting this publication.
Funding Information:
This paper forms part of the PhD studies of Naima Karolina Yilo. Funding came from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 654462 (STEMM-CCS) and the Natural Environment Research Council (CHIMNEY; NERC Highlight Topic; NE/N016130/1). The work presented was developed as a collaboration between the University of Southampton, the National Oceanography Center and GEOMAR. We thank Christian Berndt and Jens Karstens as the leading scientist on the STEMM-CCS cruise. We thank David Myer for the CSEM data analysis routines. We acknowledge Joonsang Park from the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute for his guidance and insights on the Sleipner CSEM survey. We especially thank Kerry Key for the CSEM inversion and modelling routines and for mentoring Naima Yilo during a visit to the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. We thank Ute Weckmann, Amir Haroon and an anonymous reviewer for their very helpful and constructive comments and supporting this publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal Astronomical Society.
Keywords:
Carbon capture, Controlled source electromagnetics (CSEM), Electrical resistivity, Marine electromagnetics, Numerical methods, storage
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 484401
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/484401
ISSN: 0956-540X
PURE UUID: fa073291-2224-4378-b230-4103803d78d2
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Date deposited: 16 Nov 2023 11:49
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 04:11
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Contributors
Author:
Karen Weitemeyer
Author:
Eric Attias
Author:
Hector Marin-Moreno
Author:
Ismael Falcon-Suarez
Author:
Romina Gehrmann
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