Large-Scale CCS Constructability and Operational Challenges Assessment: A Decision Tool for New Users

This report describes a process and provides seed information for identifying and evaluating risks pertinent to a hypothetical carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) capture and sequestration (CCS) project. In the envisioned project, the target sequestration reservoir rock is the Potosi Formation of the Knox Supergroup. The Potosi is identified as a potential target formation because (1) at least locally, it contains vuggy to cavernous layers that have very high porosity, and (2) it is present in areas where the deeper Mt. Simon Sandstone (a known potential reservoir unit) is absent or nonporous. The key report content is discussed in Section 3.3, which describes two lists of Features, Events, and Processes (FEPs) that should be considered during the design stage of such a project. These lists primarily highlight risk elements particular to the establishment of the Potosi as the target formation in general. The lists are consciously incomplete with respect to risk elements that would be relevant for essentially all CCS projects regardless of location or geology. In addition, other risk elements specific to a particular future project site would have to be identified. Sources for the FEPs and scenarios listed here include the iconic Quintessa FEPs list developed for the International Energy Agency Greenhouse Gas (IEAGHG) Programme; previous risk evaluation projects executed by Schlumberger Carbon Services; and new input solicited from experts currently working on aspects of CCS in the Knox geology. The projects used as sources of risk information are primarily those that have targeted carbonate reservoir rocks similar in age, stratigraphy, and mineralogy to the Knox-Potosi. Risks of using the Potosi Formation as the target sequestration reservoir for a CCS project include uncertainties about the levels of porosity and permeability of that rock unit; the lateral consistency and continuity of those properties; and the ability of the project team to identify suitable (i.e., persistently porous and permeable) injection depths within the overall formation. Less direct implications include the vertical position of the Potosi within the rock column and the absence of a laterally extensive shale caprock immediately overlying the Potosi. Based on modeling work done partly in association with this risk report, risks that should also be evaluated include the ability of available methods to predict and track the development of a CO{sub 2} plume as it migrates away from the injection point(s). The geologic and hydrodynamic uncertainties present risks that are compounded at the stage of acquiring necessary drilling and injection permits. It is anticipated that, in the future, a regional geologic study or CO{sub 2}-emitter request may identify a small specific area as a prospective CCS project site. At that point, the FEPs lists provided in this report should be evaluated by experts for their relative levels of risk. A procedure for this evaluation is provided. The higher-risk FEPs should then be used to write project-specific scenarios that may themselves be evaluated for risk. Then, actions to reduce and to manage risk can be described and undertaken. The FEPs lists provided as Appendix 2 should not be considered complete, as potentially the most important risks are ones that have not yet been thought of. But these lists are intended to include the most important risk elements pertinent to a Potosi-target CCS project, and they provide a good starting point for diligent risk identification, evaluation, and management.

Local Community Benefit Sharing Mechanisms for CCS Projects

The In Salah CO2 Storage Project: Lessons Learned and Knowledge Transfer

There are many gas fields associated with large amount of CO2 concentrations (>50 mol%) in offshore Malaysia. Development of the contaminated gas fields is only possible if a geologically safe storage site is identified for the storage of produced CO2. The critical component of CCS project field development plan is monitoring of the storage site for the long-term containment and conformance security. 4D time- lapse seismic is key in monitoring, measurement, and verification (MMV) plan as it can demonstrate the periodic movement of stored CO2 within storage reservoir. Time-lapse seismic response depends on several parameters ranging from reservoir rock properties, initial fluid and saturation of CO2 during injection period. This study focuses on the different characteristics on 4D seismic attributes for carbonate and clastic reservoirs and discusses to effectively utilize for MMV. The time-lapse 4D seismic has been traditionally used to identify the potential threats associated with reservoirs with enhanced oil recovery plan. The application of 4D seismic would benefits CCS project for monitoring CO2 plume migration along existing or induced fractures. The study was conducted on identified CO2 storage sites in both depleted carbonate gas reservoir and clastic saline aquifer. It highlights two methods applied in the 4D AVO analysis, that quantifies the changes in CO2 saturation within reservoir during injection. The Aki and Richards' approximation were analyzed for the effect of changes in gas saturations on the seismic amplitudes and the Smith and Gidlow's approximation for the reflection coefficient relationship between the AVO gradient/intercept attributes and reservoir fluid/properties. The application of 4D seismic would benefits CCS project for monitoring CO2 plume migration along existing or induced fractures. The study was conducted on identified CO2 storage sites in both depleted carbonate gas reservoir and clastic saline aquifer. It highlights two methods applied in the 4D AVO analysis, that quantifies the changes in CO2 saturation within reservoir during injection. The Aki and Richards' approximation were analyzed for the effect of changes in gas saturations on the seismic amplitudes and the Smith and Gidlow's approximation for the reflection coefficient relationship between the AVO gradient/intercept attributes and reservoir fluid/properties. This study focuses on the different characteristics on 4D seismic attributes for carbonate and clastic reservoirs and discusses to effectively utilize for MMV.

For any CCS project, geomechanics plays a key role in determining the containment of the injected CO2. The high potential routes for loss of containment include fracturing the caprock and/or migration along discontinuities through the caprock. Leakage processes are dominated by the in-situ stresses, formation pressures, injection pressures and temperature of the reservoir, all of which vary with time. Whilst injection of gas and fluids in subsurface formations is common practice, we identify key geomechanical challenges associated with CCS projects. These key challenges are explained within the context of the Goldeneye CCS project. Geomechnaical modelling was conducted for assurance of containment for the full life-cycle of the field. Numerical tools have been used to evaluate caprock integrity, reservoir deformation, fault stability and the impact of thermal cooling in terms of fracturing of the reservoir as well as the caprock. We also discuss the impact of thermal cooling adjacent to the injection well and the impact this could have on development of micro-annuli as potential leakage pathways. The results of the geomechanical analysis support injection of CO2 into the depleted Goldeneye reservoir which provides reliable containment over the planned injection period, as well as long-term sequestration within the storage complex.

Aramis is a major CCS project, currently launching the EPCI phase to be built in the North Sea offshore Netherlands. As one of the most ambitious CCS projects, with an injection capacity of 22 Mtpa, Aramis will play a crucial role in helping the EU achieve its decarbonization goals for industries with high fossil-fuel consumption. The centerpiece of the project is a nearly 200km long transport pipeline entirely buried, connecting emitters to various offshore storage sites. Nearby emitters will supply CO2-rich streams in gas phase directly from their capture facilities into a low-pressure onshore collection network. The gaseous stream will be pressurized in a compressor station and fed into the Aramis pipeline in warm conditions. More remote emitters will supply CO2-rich streams in liquid phase transported by ships (the expected temperature is down to -25 °C) or by a long-distance pipeline (ambient temperature). The mixture of streams from diverse types of emitters and / or sources will result in significant variations in composition and temperature in the Aramis pipeline. A possible large gap between temperatures of the transported CO2-rich stream and the ambience causes a thermal contraction or expansion phenomenon under stagnant conditions. For example, in a situation in which the system is shutdown while the fluid is colder than the ambient temperature, a significant pressure increase can be observed, possibly exceeding the pipeline’s normal operating or design pressures. This pressure increase must be anticipated and managed in both planned and unplanned situations. The equilibrium pressure (also called Settle-Out-Pressure, SOP) and the CO2 phase behavior in these circumstances differ significantly from those observed in hydrocarbon systems. This phenomenon requires special attention for process safety and operating philosophy definition. The lack of industrial benchmarks at Aramis’ scale creates an additional challenge for a safe design. This work describes the flow modeling approach applied to simulate the shutdown operations for this large-scale CO2 transport network. It quantitatively illustrates the relevance of the temperature gradient on the SOP values for different operational scenarios. The main impacts on the operation philosophy and safety engineering design are presented. Moreover, details concerning the simulation methodology, including the selected Equation of State (EoS) and applied safety margin on simulation results, are also presented in this work.

Partial capture from refineries through utilization of existing site energy systems

Characterization of formation properties for geological storage of CO2 – Experiences from the Heletz CO2 injection site and other example sites from the EU FP7 project MUSTANG

CO2 from Natural Gas Sweetening to Kick-start EOR in the North Sea

“Fixing” climate change through carbon capture and storage: Situating industrial risk cultures

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Offshore storage achieves two major objectives for the US commercial large scale CCS deployment: Adding large capacity to serve local regional, and potentially broader objectives Lowering risk by providing storage with one public owner, away from population, with no conflict with water resources and reduced concern about induced seismicity. A high-concentration CO2 source was identified as the top candidate for the project and going forward with the CarbonSAFE Phase II proposal. The top-rated source is the NET Power facility in Houston (La Porte), Texas. A manuscript based on analysis of results from the two-stage survey conducted in eight selected Texas counties (Brazoria, Chambers, Liberty, Galveston, Jefferson, Orange, Fort Bend and Harris) was submitted to the International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control on August 21, 2018. A primary confining interval (seal) is associated with MFS9 (biochronozone Amphistegina B) which can reach a thickness of up to 250 m. However, the Amphistegina B confining interval thins considerably in the onshore direction. Consequently, the most suitable portion of the Miocene section for future CO2 sequestration in the study area is considered to be the offshore area where Amphistegina B is thickest. Based on three models for capacity assessment, the study proposes a base case for the High Island 10-L Field in which 9 wells operated for 12 years each completed into 4 zones will emplace a total of 150MMT of CO2 with wells placed in the water leg where all the plume will slowly migrate into the structural trap is feasible in terms of geology and engineering. The 10-L Field was assessed in more detail than other examined oil and gas fields in the study area in order to look at some specifics about how initial future CCS projects might be accomplished in the favorable GoM of the US region and expand the sites to a larger set to experiment with matching all the possible sources to sinks. The 10-L site is large enough to accept CO2 from multiple sinks; the expanded sinks are estimated to be large enough to accept all the CO2 from the region plus some from outside the region. A number of uncertainties were identified. The largest and most consequential uncertainty is the cost of offshore pipelines in the study setting, which impacts the conditions where CO2 transport would be by ship versus the cases where pipeline would be preferred. Ships are preferred for small volumes and short durations; pipelines for larger volumes and long duration. Additional work is needed to advance the maturity of multiple sinks available, to continue outreach to industries and the public, and to develop realistic source opportunities. The study demonstrates that industrial source clusters connected to a transport hub delivering CO2 to a nearby storage complex is the most cost-effective and improved way to de-carbonize industrial activities, particularly, in an expected low-carbon and increasing carbon price environmental. The feasibility of the new business models should be based on the best use of the existing infrastructure and strategically build on new supporting infrastructure to drive down the costs of large-scale CCS deployment. Assessing the pre-feasibility of the commercial implementation of a CCS cluster and hub in the GoM energy ecosystem, our study links these elements successfully through an optimized combination (minimum cost) of CO2 sources on land with offshore storage. Offshore storage achieves two major objectives for the US commercial large scale CCS deployment: Adding large capacity to serve local regional, and potentially broader objectives Lowering risk by providing storage with one public owner, away from population, with no conflict with water resources and reduced concern about induced seismicity.

\n While several studies have shown the existence of dissimilarities among diverse types of external knowledge sources, little attention has been given to identifying the project management success factors that are most suitable for each of them. Based on a quantitative exploratory approach, this study examines the relationship between Success Factors is Collaborative R&D project management and project performance, examining evidence on the dichotomy of Science-based and Market-based knowledge sources. Performance here is a multidimensional construct bringing together several dimensions: Budget, Time Schedule, Technical Quality, Patents, Publications and Overall Success Performance. The Project Management set of success factors evaluated were related to Clearly Planning the Project, Mutually Agreeing on Project Plans, Progress Monitoring and Effective Communication. To optimize performance, our findings strongly suggest the need for an R&D project management approach contingent on external knowledge source. More specifically, Clearly Defining Expectations, Objectives and Responsibilities and Jointly Agreeing on Human Resources Characteristics improve the Technical Quality of the projects with Science-based sources. In projects with Market-based sources, Discussing the Sources of Conflict, Defining Appropriation Issues and Milestones, and doing these together improve the Schedule performance. No association of performance improvement with Project Progress Monitoring was identified in projects made exclusively with Science-based sources. Success factors for Effective Communication also show some different effects on performance by knowledge sources. Informal Communication is positively and significantly correlated to the Technical Quality of the project for Science-based sources; however, Having Pre-Defined Communication Strategies is correlated to performance only for Market-based sources. These findings contribute to practice in Collaborative Project Management, identifying success factors to be emphasized, depending on the type of knowledge source involved in the project.\n

On-time completion and conformity with assigned cost of every project are the most important factors in the success of project plans. Cost overruns and time overrun (delays) have been critical problems of many projects around the world in general and in South Africa in particular. The main objectives of this research are to assess the dominant causes of cost and time overruns, identifying possible and practical measures that can minimize overruns in office building construction projects around eThekwini Municipal area of Kwazulu-Natal. These objectives are achieved through the implementation of the research methodologies that are mainly literature review and questionnaire survey conducted to identify and evaluate the significant factors contributing to delay and cost overruns within the projects of interest. A review of literature identified eighty-five variables for delay, grouped in nine major categories and nine variables for cost overruns ranked in their order of importance in three sets based on the responses from the professionals working for the client, consultants and contractors. The agreement among the sets of rankings for delay and cost overruns has also been tested using statistical methods. The result indicates that there is strong agreement on ranking the importance of the individual variables of delay and cost overruns between parties. From each of the three sets of rankings, the twenty most important variables of delay and the three most important variables of cost overrun are identified as critical. Based on overall results, the top five most important causes are contractor’s cash flow problems, delay in progress payments by the client, poor site supervision and management by contractor, inefficient quality control by the contractor during construction leading to rework due to errors, and contractor’s difficulties in financing the project. Out of the 20 most important delay causing variables, three are found to be common between all parties. These are delay in progress payments by the client, delay in delivery and late ordering of material, and insufficient skill of labour. Furthermore, the study reveals that all stakeholders of construction parties are deeply involved in contributing to the causes of the problems. Thus, in order to eliminate or minimize cost and time extension of office construction projects in the eThekwini Municipal area, a joint effort based on teamwork is essential through effective project planning, controlling and monitoring which boils down to putting in place best practice construction project management.

The complexity of construction projects and the poor decision-making process often result in cost and time overruns. With the rapid growth of Industrial Revolution (IR4.0) in Malaysia, Internet of Things (IoT) is being expanded in the construction industry to improve project efficiency and performance. One of the benefits of IoT is it provides a real-time monitoring function to ensure that the construction players can access accurate data and information at the exact time throughout the project life cycle and assist in their decision making. Most studies have focused on how decision making is aided through the application of IoT during the design phase, with few studies focusing on the construction phase, particularly from the perspective of contractors. Without IoT, contractors need to use their professional experiences and limited data to make their decisions. As the contractors have to make a lot of decisions during the construction phase, the adoption of IoT can help the contractors to make fast and precise decisions. Despite its benefits, the adoption of IoT in the Malaysian construction industry is still low. With the focus on Grade 7 (G7) contractors in Malaysia, this paper intends 1) to study the types of IoT-based real-time monitoring technologies for decision-making among the contractors, and 2) to explore the potential improvements of decision making by the contractors after the adoption of IoT. The research adopted the qualitative method via semi-structured interviews. Based on the findings, there are 10 types of IoT-based real-time monitoring technologies being used and they have been utilised in several areas e.g. machineries and equipment, materials, labours, project sequences, waste management, risk management, productivity and quality of works, cost control and environmental protection. The function of the real-time monitoring of IoT such as the real-time data and report, sudden changes reporting, agentless real-time monitoring, root cause analysis, alerts and warnings and predictions, help the contractors in making their decision timely and accurately. Finding reported herein is considered significant towards raising industry players' awareness and acceptance of IoT in construction projects, thereby improving project efficiency and performance.

Value Engineering (VE) is defined as a systematic application of a recognized approach by a multidisciplined team to identify the functions of a product or a system and to establish a worth for that function. Alternatives are generated through the creative thinking. The needed functions are provided to accomplish purpose of the project, reliability and at the lowest life cycle cost without sacrificing safety, necessary quality and environmental attributes. This paper aims at investigating the effectiveness of VE as an approach that could improve the design process which is considered as an important stage in the project life cycle. Current research has shown that the impact of design on the total cost of the project is estimated as 50%. Hence, this study is concentrated at the design stage. To assess the actual practice during the design process, a questionnaire was designed and sent to 15 respondents. This comprised design firms, engineers as well as clients. The questionnaire main objective was to find out how VE studies are conducted and to gauge the impact on the design of the studied projects. The questions were set to investigate to what extent VE components (function, quality and cost) were applied on those projects under study and their impact on design. The Statistical analysis was conduced using SPSS 10. Descriptive statistics methods were used for organizing and analyzing data. Chi-square tests were used to test the research hypotheses and to make comparisons between observed and expected frequencies. The results obtained from the analysis of the collected data showed that the poor performance in the design process which leads to cost and time overrun and low quality is due to the inefficient methods of conducting the brief with the clients. The tendency of designers to produce expensive designs to show their capabilities without achieving the required functions of the project is also found to be one of the defects in the design process. The Sudanese government and the private sector are recommended to adopt VE. Architects, engineers, and other professionals are recommended to play part in the spread of this technique among their firms. The research recommended further studies to develop and improve VE techniques and tools.