The development of unconventional hydrocarbon resources has changed the energy-political landscape of the world and tight rocks might ultimately supply a dominant part of our demands for energy.
A combined CO2 stimulation and permanent storage in shale rocks may provide a robust solution to environmental problems related to the combustion of fossil fuel such as natural gas. In fact, the net economic effect of simultaneous stimulation and storage may play a critical role in deployment of large-scale gas production from shale plays in Poland.
The idea of the project is based on the observation that the CO2 has a stronger binding than methane to the organic matter contained in shales. CO2 may therefore be used to enhance gas production, while at the same time remaining trapped in the shale matrix.
However, the understanding of basic mechano-chemical processes underlying the CO2-CH4 replacement in shales is still missing, making it hard to assess the feasibility of industrial implementation of this technology.
Our project aims at filling this gap by performing multiscale, transdisciplinary laboratory and theoretical studies of the CO2 sequestration in shales, concentrating on the rocks from Pomeranian shale formations.
To this end, we have built an interdisciplinary team with a broad range of experts: from the computational physicists specializing in ab-initio, quantum-based computational techniques to the experimentalists using microfluidic methods to visualize the flow and reactions in shale structures.
The combined expertise of this multidisciplinary Polish-Norwegian research team will allow, for the first time, to create a comprehensive model of CO2 sequestration in shale rocks, capable of assessment of the storage capacity of Pomeranian shale formations.
More information on the Shaleseq project web site
