International Network on Oxyfuel Combustion
It is proposed to hold a meeting aimed at establishing an IEA GHG International Network on Oxyfuel Combustion. The inaugural meeting will take place on 17th to 18th October 2005. Oxyfuel combustion processes are a way of reducing emissions of CO2 to atmosphere that are potentially competitive with the capture of CO2 in post- and pre- combustion alternatives. However, they are not as well established and fundamental data is required to obtain design criteria. A significant number of organisations are working in this area on test rigs and pilot plants. The basic concept of the Networks is to promote dialogue between international research groups active in specific R,D,&D areas. The scope of activities for the proposed Oxyfuel Network will be for those interested in taking part to define. For example, it would probably include both wet and dry CO2 recycle approaches to temperature moderation; it could also include using a water recycle. At a minimum, it is expected that oxyfuel researchers will be willing to exchange key physical property data such as on heat transfer coefficients and on mass transfer properties of gaseous impurities. More ambitiously, there would be opportunities for those working in this area to engage in co-operative R&D activities aimed at minimising duplication of effort. The Japanese Members of IEAGHG have kindly arranged for JCOAL and IHI to host a workshop in Japan to develop and agree an outline of activities that could usefully be undertaken co-operatively by workers in the field of oxyfuel combustion. Attendees will need to meet their own accommodation and travel expenses. The IEA GHG International Networks are typically non-contributory and, once established, hold a meeting once a year. IEA GHG members participate by organising the meetings, providing secretariat support, and facilitating the meetings.
An IEA GHG web site www.co2captureandstorage.info supports the Networks by hosting a home page.
Those interested in attending, what we hope will be the inaugural meeting of this International Network on Oxyfuel Combustion should contact Dr John Topper by email (). Dr Topper will be co-ordinating organisation of the initial meeting on behalf of IEA GHG.
Carbon Capture and Sequestration Conference
The 4th Annual Conference on Carbon Capture and Sequestration was held in Alexandria, VA, USA on 2nd to 5th May 2005. Two extensive sessions were held that will be of interest to many of our readers:
_ There were 13 papers on the Frio project. This project demonstrated the process of CO2 sequestration in a Texan brine formation. The project was deemed to have been a resounding success. www.beq.utexas.edu
_ There were presentations from each of the 7 Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships. These Regional Partnerships were initiated by the United States Department of Energy with the goal of developing an infrastructure to support and enable future carbon sequestration field tests and deployments. Further information about the Regional Partnerships can be found at the following website: www.netl.doe.gov/sequestration
Vattenfall to Build Pilot Plant for a CO2-Free Coal-Fired Power Station
Vattenfall is to build the world’s first pilot plant for a carbon dioxide-free coal-fired power station. The plant will be built next to the Schwarze Pumpe coal-fired power station near Spremberg in Brandenburg to the south of Berlin. It is estimated that the plant will be ready for operation in 2008 and that the required investment will amount to approximately EUR 40 million (SEK 370 million).
The technology that will be used, carbon dioxide separation with oxyfuel technology, entails firing the lignite using pure oxygen and recycled carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide that is formed in the combustion process can then be separated in so pure a form that it can be retrieved and later stored permanently in rock formations underground. Carbon dioxide can thus be prevented from reaching the atmosphere.
The pilot plant, which is rated at 30 MW, is part of a research and development project aimed at developing and commercialising the new technology. It will take three years to build the plant, which according to plan will be commissioned in 2008. “The risks associated with climate change require decisive action on the part of business and industry too,” said Vattenfall’s President and CEO, Lars G. Josefsson, when the project was presented in Berlin. “The ‘CO2-free power plant’ project with its pilot plant signifies that Vattenfall, as a leading European energy company, is taking a further concrete step towards reducing its emissions of carbon dioxide – emissions that affect the global climate.” Klaus Rauscher, President of Vattenfall Europe AG, stressed the pioneering nature of the project: “Our lignite-fired power stations are already the most advanced in the world. With this planned pilot plant we will once again be breaking new technological ground and making crucial advances in the field of research and development. The oxyfuel technology for a CO2-free coal-fired power plant will give us, as an electricity generator with lignite-fired plants, a leading role in the development of a more climate-friendly system for the extraction of energy from lignite.”
Vattenfall’s lignite-fired power stations in Lausitz and central Germany are the most modern of their type in the world. The power stations were modernised in the 1990s for a total sum of EUR 9 billion (over SEK 80 billion). Vattenfall’s pilot project for CO2 separation is being conducted in collaboration with leading research institutes at German universities. For a presentation, please see www.vattenfall.com/system/movies/vattenfall_eng_modem.asx or
www.vattenfall.com/system/movies/vattenfall_eng_lan.asx
Norway Holds CCS Conference
A conference on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) was hosted by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy on 26th April 2005. Approximately 160 representatives from the industry, research institutions, NGOs and politicians, including the Norwegian Minister of Oil and Gas, participated.
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) presented their report on the use of CO2 injection for enhanced oil recovery to the Norwegian Ministry for Oil and Energy, concluding, that at the present time CO2 injection does not appear to be a viable commercial option for improved oil recovery on the Norwegian Shelf. The report does not address environmental aspects. Most of the presenters pointed to the potential of CCS in reducing CO2 emissions, but at the same time emphasised the great challenges in resolving remaining issues, e.g., logistics and cost. The International Energy Agency presented a model on the role of CCS in future CO2 management, concluding that a significant contribution could be achieved by CCS at a cost level of $50/t CO2, mainly from reduced combustion of coal. Of the three oil and gas companies who made presentations, Statoil stated their continued commitment to engage in CCS, referring to their current operations of the Sleipner Field, In-Salah gas field in Algeria, and consideration made regarding CCS in their future Snøhvit (LNG) operations; Shell’s focus was on the current technological status and issues to be resolved before CCS could become a viable alternative on a broad scale; Hydro expressed the greatest skepticism regarding CCS and stated that it is not a means for enhanced oil recovery due to high costs, other better available alternatives, and pollution of natural gas in the reservoir.
The NPD report and presentation material is available on the Ministry of Oil and Energy’s web site, address: http://odin.dep.no/oed/english/026031-990050/dok-bn.html
RECOPOL Workshop
As reported in a recent edition of Greenhouse Issues (number 76), the RECOPOL project is entering the last few months of operation. Launched in November 2001, this co-funded European Commission project was the first of its kind in Europe. The project has investigated the technical and economical feasibility of permanently and safely storing CO2 in subsurface coal seams, whilst simultaneously producing methane (Greenhouse Issues, number 70).
As part of the projects final dissemination activities, a workshop was organised by TNO-NITG (Technical Research Institute – Netherlands Geological Survey, the project co-ordinators), Central Mining Institute (Central Mining Institute, Poland) and IEA GHG. The workshop looked at the opportunities for CO2 capture and storage (CCS) in Central and Eastern Europe with specific focus on the results of the RECOPOL project.
The workshop was held in Szczyrk in Southern Poland on 10th-11th March 2005. Day one of the workshop included an international perspective on CO2 capture and storage, a look at the requirements for the reduction of harmful emissions from power plants in Poland, an overview of worldwide CO2 Enhanced Coal Bed Methane (CO2-ECBM) projects and the potential for CCS in Central and Eastern Europe. The first day also included a trip to the site of the RECOPOL pilot project.
The RECOPOL results were presented during the second day of the workshop:
Geological characterisation of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB).
This looked at the stratigraphy and lithology of the strata, tectonics and the resources of the reservoir. There was plenty of information available from years of observations conducted in the Brzeszcze and Silesia coal mines.
CO2 injection well test, planning, performance and analysing. The conclusion of this part of the project was that the wells had been successfully completed and the perforations were located in the right place (i.e. in line with the coal seams). The plans for the project were modified to ensure successful injection. The permeability of the coal at the test site was low which is not ideal for a CO2-ECBM project. Favourable high permeability conditions such as those seen at the commercial scale project in the U.S.A. are not common elsewhere around the world. To improve injectivity into coals other technologies might have to be used, such as fracturing or the use of horizontal wells.
Determination of the change in permeability of coal by bottom hole pressure survey and fall-off test. The tests concluded that the decrease in permeability observed during CO2 injection was most likely due to coal swelling. A future challenge will be to understand the mechanisms of coal swelling so it can be prevented or its impacts reduced.
Reservoir modelling of coal bed methane operations. Simulation was undertaken to investigate all the phases of the planned CO2-ECBM pilot test. From the beginning of the project it was recognised that the presence of the injected CO2 at the production well (i.e. breakthrough) would provide the maximum amount of information on the potential of CO2-ECBM in the Silesian coal. With this in mind the distance between the injection and production wells was determined to allow breakthrough within the time frame of the project. The indication of breakthrough, identified by the rise to 8% CO2 in the produced gas (naturally - 97% methane, 2% CO2) was earlier than the simulation models suggested. However, the models are two years old and the early breakthrough could provide useful information on the adsorption of CO2 in the coal seam.
Isotopic evidence of CO2 influx from MS-3 to MS-4 well. The main purpose of stable carbon isotopic analysis was to determine the origin of the CO2 at the production well. This form of analysis identifies the naturally occurring CO2 from the injected CO2. Being able to determine between the two would provide evidence as to whether the injected CO2 had reached the production well or whether it is only the naturally occurring CO2 that was present. The presence of injected CO2 was identified at the production well in December 2004.
Sociological and psychological problems related with social reception of CO2 storage. This focused on three stages of social/public consultation that could be applied in future projects. The three stages identified were: promotional campaigns, surveys and public hearings/debates.
Monitoring techniques applied for CO2 injection in coal. The monitoring undertaken as part of the pilot study should help to improve the understanding of CO2 storage in these coal layers. The measurements from the various techniques utilized should aid the development of a subsurface model that predicts future behaviour of the stored CO2 and the coal after field abandonment. The overview of the RECOPOL project given by the co-ordinators of the project, announced the significant outcomes from the RECOPOL project as:
_ Laboratory results allowed major improvements in the understanding of enhanced coal bed methane,
_ CO2 was successfully injected in to the coal bed but CO2 induced swelling of the coal was significant and the injectivity was initially lower than expected,
_ Onshore storage of CO2 in coal seams can be an option in this region (Poland),
_ Higher pressures were required for CO2 injection but development of the design of the pilot project were altered accordingly,
_ The experience gained through the RECOPOL project will help the development of future projects although each region will have different regulatory requirements and will not necessarily be able to follow the route of this project.
STOP PRESS - RECOPOL UPDATE
It must be noted that since the workshop was held a fracture test has been successfully completed and continuous injection into the coal seam has now been achieved (details will appear in a future issue of Greenhouse Issues). More detailed information on the RECOPOL Workshop can be found at www.co2captureandstorage.info/techworkshops/recopol.htm
For further information on the RECOPOL project, please contact Henk Pagnier () or Frank van Bergen ().
EPA Workshop on
Modelling and
Reservoir
Simulation
By Anhar Karimjee
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) hosted
a geological reservoir
modelling workshop on 6th-7th April
2005 in Houston, TX. The objective of
the workshop was to assess the
potential role and application of
reservoir models and reservoir
simulation to geological CO2 storage.
The workshop sought to determine
the state of art in the
development and application of
modelling approaches and numerical
simulators for geological CO2
storage. The workshop also aimed to
understand how models and
reservoir simulation can be applied
during key stages in the life cycle of
CO2 storage reservoir from site
selection and characterisation
through injection operations and
post-injection verification of CO2
containment. Finally, the workshop
aimed to understand research and
data needs to improve the application
of modelling and reservoir
simulation for CO2 storage and to
address explicitly the role of models
and reservoir simulation in