Geophysical Numerical Modeling Approach for Characterizing and Monitoring Potential Carbon Sequestration Injection Sites

Geological sequestration has been proposed as a viable option for mitigating the vast amount of CO2 being released into the atmosphere daily. Test sites for CO2 injection have been appearing across the world to ascertain the feasibility of capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide. A major concern with full scale implementation is monitoring and verifying the permanence of injected CO2. Geophysical methods, an exploration industry standard, are non-invasive imaging techniques that can be implemented to address that concern. Geophysical methods, seismic and electromagnetic, play a crucial role in monitoring the subsurface pre- and post-injection. Seismic techniques have been the most popular but electromagnetic methods are gaining interest. The primary goal of this project was to develop a new geophysical tool, a software program called GphyzCO2, to investigate the implementation of geophysical monitoring for detecting injected CO2 at test sites. The GphyzCO2 software consists of interconnected programs that encompass well logging, seismic, and electromagnetic methods. The software enables users to design and execute 3D surface-to-surface (conventional surface seismic) and borehole-to-borehole (cross-hole seismic and electromagnetic methods) numerical modeling surveys. The generalized flow of the program begins with building a complex 3D subsurface geological model, assigning properties to the models that mimic a potential CO2 injection site, numerically forward model a geophysical survey, and analyze the results.A test site located in Warren County, Ohio was selected as the test site for the full implementation of GphyzCO2. Specific interest was placed on a potential reservoir target, the Mount Simon Sandstone, and cap rock, the Eau Claire Formation. Analysis of the test site included well log data, physical property measurements (porosity), core sample resistivity measurements, calculating electrical permittivity values, seismic data collection, and seismic interpretation. The data was input into GphyzCO2 to demonstrate a full implementation of the software capabilities. Part of the implementation investigated the limits of using geophysical methods to monitor CO2 injection sites. The results show that cross-hole EM numerical surveys are limited to under a 100 meter borehole separation. Those results were utilized in executing numerical EM surveys that contain hypothetical CO2 injections. The outcome of the forward modeling provides evidence that EM methods can detect the presence of CO2. A combination of EM and seismic monitoring techniques could provide the ideal monitoring method for carbon sequestration injection sites.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Geological Sciences

Grantor dc:publisher

The Ohio State University

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• Shalek, Kyle

Contributors dc:contributor

• Daniels, Jeffrey

• Geological
• Geophysics
• Carbon sequestration
• resistivity
• dielectric
• seismic
• modeling

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: some rights reserved. It is licensed for use under a Creative Commons license. Specific terms and permissions are available from this document's record in the OhioLINK ETD Center.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1366038368

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:osu1366038368