CO2 Seal and Bypass – COPASS

Norway’s strong standing with respect to subsurface CO2 storage is closely related to a high-level competence in characterization of sub-surface reservoirs. In the COPASS project we aim to understand the CO2 flows and storage behaviour, studying two field cases. We use 3D geo-models and simulations to understand CO2 flows including leakeage. 

COPASS – CO2 Seal and Bypass: The Bartlett Fault, Utah. The fault juxtaposes the Entrada and Morrison formations, and has partially sealed in the CO2-charged groundwater that migrated through the porous sandstones of the Entrada Formation. Photo/Illustration: Ivar Midtkandal

COPASS – CO2 Seal and Bypass: The Bartlett Fault, Utah. The fault juxtaposes the Entrada and Morrison formations, and has partially sealed in the CO2-charged groundwater that migrated through the porous sandstones of the Entrada Formation. Photo/ill: Ivar Midtkandal

About the project

Technology related to geological sequestration of CO2 provide a significant means for mitigating global emissions - this in spite of public skepticism and a shortage of incentives to develop CO2 storage into a profitable venture. Most existing sequestration sites are generally small and have not been operational for sufficient time to fully forecast and assess leakage scenarios of laterally extensive reservoirs on the time scales relevant for subsurface CO2 storage (> 10 kY). Thus the study of exhumed reservoirs showing evidence of CO2 accumulation in geological history and leakage processes may offer an important supplement to our knowledge on relevant spatial and temporal scales.

Reservoirs in the North Sea are matured for CO2 storage; however, key questions around plume migration mechanisms and pressure linked to site integrity have been raised for both the Sleiper and Snøhvit cases, as well as for the Longyearbyen CO2 lab and Svelvik pilots. It is need of in-depth analysis of CO2 flow systems with bearing on the forecasting reliability of reservoir models. It will be fundamental for future North Sea CO2 storage sites to improve the understanding of storage efficiency, dynamics of injectivity and pressure linked to CO2-driven reactions, and pressure-driven reactivation of faults and fractures jeopardizing storage integrity.

In order to fully understand which mechanisms and geological parameters govern both the localization of leakage points through intra-reservoir flow baffles and trap-confining seals, our field observations will be implemented in 3D geological models which form the basis for conducting fluid flow simulations.

Objectives

We will explore CO2 plumbing systems of reservoirs and caprocks by integrating observations from actively leaking and former, exhumed reservoir-seal systems employing field, laboratory and reservoir modelling studies.

We aim to implement observed flow and leakage patterns combined with observed diagenetic status and rock strength assessments in 3D simulation models. Our ultimate goal is to simulate flow and critical pressure based on rock and fault rock mechanics in a workflow that allow fault and fracture venting similar to what is currently observed in the Little Grand Wash Fault CO2 leakage scenario.

The work is organized in five work packages: 1) Rock properties (Two study objects Little Grand Wash Fault and Humbug Flats); 2) Diagenetic effects; 3) Geomechanics; 4) Reservoir modelling and simulation; 5) Education and outreach.

Background

In the COPASS project we focus on two study areas, both with natural subsurface with particular relevance to CO2 storage studies, and with a unique and detailed insight into flow of CO2 in subsurface reservoirs. 

The two case study areas ares in Utah, USA; both the Little Grand Wash Fault and the - Humbug Flats of the NE San Rafael Swell will offer unique datasets which can significantly improve our ability to forecast leakage from subsurface CO2 storage sites.

Financing

The COPASS project are granted financing from the Norwegian Research Council with project number 244049 (CLIMIT-programme), and with support from the VISTA programme.

The project is also linked to other ongoing research activity in Norway and the USA, and there is a close association toward other Norwegian and US-based federal and private funds.

The project duration is from January 2015, with a 4 years frame with an end in 2019.

Cooperation

Publications

  • Skurtveit, Elin; Sundal, Anja; Bjørnarå, Tore Ingvald; Soldal, Magnus; Sauvin, Guillaume & Zuchuat, Valentin [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2020). Experimental investigation of natural fracture stiffness and flow properties in a faulted CO2 bypass system (Utah, USA). Journal of Geophysical Research (JGR): Solid Earth. ISSN 2169-9313. 125(7). doi: 10.1029/2019JB018917. Full text in Research Archive
  • Braathen, Alvar; Petrie, Elisabeth; Nystuen, Tonje; Sundal, Anja; Skurtveit, Elin & Zuchuat, Valentin [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2020). Interaction of deformation bands and fractures during progressive strain in monocline - San Rafael Swell, Central Utah, USA. Journal of Structural Geology. ISSN 0191-8141. 141. doi: 10.1016/j.jsg.2020.104219. Full text in Research Archive
  • Skurtveit, Elin; Miri, Rohaldin & Hellevang, Helge (2018). Fluid‐Rock Interactions in Clay‐Rich Seals: Impact on Transport and Mechanical Properties. In Vialle, Stéphanie; Ajo-Franklin, Jonathan & Carey, William J. (Ed.), Geological Carbon Storage: Subsurface Seals and Caprock Integrity. American Geophysical Union (AGU). ISSN 9781119118657. p. 167–186. doi: 10.1002/9781119118657.ch8. Full text in Research Archive
  • Bjørnarå, Tore Ingvald; Skurtveit, Elin & Sauvin, Guillaume (2018). Stress-dependent fracture permeability in core samples: an experimental and numerical study, 52nd US Rock Mechanics / Geomechanics Symposium, 17-20 June 2018, Seattle, Washington. American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA). ISSN 978-0-9794975-3-7.
  • Zuchuat, Valentin; Sleveland, Arve Rein Nes; Sprinkel, Douglas A.; Rimkus, Algirdas; Braathen, Alvar & Midtkandal, Ivar (2018). New insights on the impact of tidal currents on a low-gradient, semi-enclosed, epicontinental basin — the Curtis Formation, east-central Utah, USA. Geology of the Intermountain west (GIW). ISSN 2380-7601. 5, p. 131–165. doi: 10.31711/giw.v5.pp131-165.
  • Skurtveit, Elin; Braathen, Alvar; Larsen, Eivind Bernhard; Sauvin, Guillaume; Sundal, Anja & Zuchuat, Valentin (2017). Pressure Induced Deformation and Flow Using CO2 Field Analogues, Utah. Energy Procedia. ISSN 1876-6102. 114, p. 3257–3266. doi: 10.1016/j.egypro.2017.03.1457. Full text in Research Archive
  • Sundal, Anja; Miri, Rohaldin; Hellevang, Helge; Tveranger, Jan; Midtkandal, Ivar & Zuchuat, Valentin [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2017). Movement of CO 2 charged fluids in low permeability rocks during deformation: migration patterns in the Carmel Formation, Utah. Energy Procedia. ISSN 1876-6102. 114, p. 4537–4544. doi: 10.1016/j.egypro.2017.03.1570.

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  • Zuchuat, Valentin; Midtkandal, Ivar; Miquel, Poyatos-More; Da Costa, Sigrid; Halvorsen, Kristine Årland & Sundal, Anja [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2018). Unconformities matter: The spatial and temporal information contained in the J-3 Unconformity and the Curtis Formation, east-central Utah, USA.
  • Petrie, Elizabeth; Sundal, Anja; Guiterrez, Marte & Braathen, Alvar (2017). Kinematics of deformation band formation and reactivation associated with a Laramide fault propagation fold.
  • Sørensen, Tonje N.; Braathen, Alvar & Skurtveit, Elin (2017). Progressive deformation in monocline, San Rafael Swell, Utah.
  • Skurtveit, Elin; Sundal, Anja; Sauvin, Guillaume; Soldal, Magnus; Zuchuat, Valentin & Braathen, Alvar (2017). Fracture flow experiments addressing CO2 migration in fault zone.
  • Midtkandal, Ivar; Zuchuat, Valentin; Braathen, Alvar; Sundal, Anja & Evans, James (2017). Syn-sedimentary subsurface liquefaction and collapse; injectites, pseudo-channels and pseudo-clinoforms in the Jurassic Entrada and Curtis Formations, Utah, USA.
  • Zuchuat, Valentin; Sleveland, Arve Rein Nes; Rimkus, Algirdas; Braathen, Alvar & Midtkandal, Ivar (2017). Modelling the Sequence Stratigraphic Development of the Upper Jurassic Curtis Formation along the NE Margin of the San Rafael Swell, Central-Eastern Utah, USA: an Example of a Low-Gradient Tidal Basin.
  • Sleveland, Arve Rein Nes; Zuchuat, Valentin; Rimkus, Algirdas; Midtkandal, Ivar; Sundal, Anja & Braathen, Alvar (2017). Spatial and temporal distribution of tidally modified sandstone reservoirs – implications for CCS and petroleum exploration.
  • Zuchuat, Valentin; Midtkandal, Ivar; Braathen, Alvar; Sundal, Anja; Skurtveit, Elin & Hellevang, Helge [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2017). COPASS - CO2 seal bypass.
  • Braathen, Alvar; Skurtveit, Elin; Ogata, Kei; Senger, Kim & Tveranger, Jan (2017). Risking CO2 leakage along faults - what do we know?
  • Zuchuat, Valentin; Midtkandal, Ivar; Da Costa, Sigrid; Sundal, Anja & Braathen, Alvar (2017). Schizophrenia in sedimentology: The J-3 Unconformity and the Curtis Formation, Central-Eastern Utah, USA.
  • Guiterrez, Marte; Sundal, Anja & Petrie, Elizabeth (2016). Geomechanical Modeling of Deformation Banding in the Navajo Sandstone, San Rafael Monocline, Utah.
  • Sundal, Anja; Petrie, Elizabeth; Hellevang, Helge; Midtkandal, Ivar & Braathen, Alvar (2016). REACTIVE FLUID EXPULSION DURING PROGRESSIVE DEFORMATION IN THE FOLD LIMB OF THE SAN RAFAEL SWELL, UTAH, USA.
  • Skurtveit, Elin; Braathen, Alvar; Larsen, Eivind & Sauvin, Guillaume (2016). Pressure induced deformation and flow using CO2 field analogues, Utah.
  • Sundal, Anja; Miri, Rohaldin; Hellevang, Helge; Tveranger, Jan; Midtkandal, Ivar & Zuchuat, Valentin [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2016). Movement of CO2 charged fluids in low permeability rocks during deformation: migration patterns in the Carmel Formation, Utah.
  • Rimkus, Algirdas; Sundal, Anja; Sleveland, Arve Rein Nes; Zuchuat, Valentin; Braathen, Alvar & Midtkandal, Ivar (2015). Sedimentology and reservoir quality of a Middle Jurassic marginal marine succession; the Curtis Formation, southeastern Utah, USA.
  • Midtkandal, Ivar; Braathen, Alvar; Hellevang, Helge; Skurtveit, Elin & Tveranger, Jan (2015). COPASS - CO2 seal bypass.
  • Zuchuat, Valentin; Midtkandal, Ivar & Braathen, Alvar (2019). Continental to Shallow Marine Transition in a Tide-Dominated, Low Accommodation Basin - Controlling Factors and Depositional Architecture. Universitetet i Oslo.
  • Bromander, Nikoline; Sundal, Anja; Midtkandal, Ivar & Zuchuat, Valentin (2018). Facies-controlled reservoir quality and preferential deformation in sandstone reservoirs; a case study from the Entrada Sandstone, Utah, USA. Universitetet i Oslo.
  • Tveterås, Susanne; Braathen, Alvar; Midtkandal, Ivar & Zuchuat, Valentin (2018). Fault style and deformation mechanisms caused by sand mobility in the Entrada Sandstone and Curtis Formation, Utah, USA. Universitetet i Oslo.
  • Halvorsen, Kristine; Zuchuat, Valentin; Midtkandal, Ivar & Braathen, Alvar (2018). Sand tectonics – sand mobility linked to faulting and the influence on depositional systems. Universitetet i Oslo.
  • Da Costa, Sigrid; Zuchuat, Valentin & Midtkandal, Ivar (2018). The complexity of regional erosion; incision, faulting, and deposition during the development of the J-3 unconformity, Utah, USA. Universitetet i Oslo.
  • Tveterås, Susanne; Braathen, Alvar; Midtkandal, Ivar & Zuchuat, Valentin (2018). Fault style and deformation mechanisms caused by sand mobility in the Entrada Sandstone. 7Letras.
  • Halvorsen, Kristine; Braathen, Alvar; Midtkandal, Ivar & Zuchuat, Valentin (2018). Sand tectonics – sand mobility linked to faulting and the influence on depositional systems. 7Letras.
  • Bromander, Nikoline; Sundal, Anja; Skurtveit, Elin; Midtkandal, Ivar & Braathen, Alvar (2018). Facies-controlled reservoir quality and preferential deformation in sandstone reservoirs; a case study from the Entrada Sandstone, Utah, USA. 7Letras.

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Published Sep. 29, 2017 3:57 PM - Last modified Jan. 24, 2023 11:03 AM

Contact

Ivar Midtkandal, Associate Professor and Project leader

Steering committee: