Basic concepts of Geology and

Reservoir Options

GESIANE SBRISSA
GEOLOGIST - CEPAC/PUCRS

Porto Alegre
2013
 Mineral x Rock
Sedimentary Rocks
Classification of Sedimentary Rocks
Reservoir Rock
Cap Rock
Porosity
Permeability
Geological Characteristics of Sedimentary Basins Suitable for
CO2 Storage
Reservoir Options
 Carbon capture and Storage

Carbon capture and storage is mostly used to describe methods for

removing CO2 emissions from large stationary sources, such as electricity
generation and some industrial processes, and storing it away from the
atmosphere.
 Mineral is solid inorganic material of the Earth that has both a known
chemical composition and a crystalline structure that is unique to that
mineral.

X
Rocks are made of minerals. Some rocks are made of just one, while others
are made of many.
Igneous rock is formed from molten
rock that has cooled and hardened.

Sedimentary rock are types of rock

that are formed by the deposition of
material at the Earth's surface and
within bodies of water.

Metamorphic rock is a rock that has

changed by heat and pressure.
 Sedimentary Rocks
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the deposition of
material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water.

Clastic
(siliciclastic)

Chemical
Biochemical
 Mineralogy - Classification of Sedimentary
Rocks
Clastic (siliciclastic) - 60%
- Sandstones
- Mudstones (shales)
- Conglomerates

Chemical/Biochemical
- Carbonates - 35%
- Siliceous Oozes/Cherts
- Evaporites
 Sedimentary Rocks: CLASTIC (siliciclastic)
– Quartz (SiO2): 50 - 60%
Monocrystalline, polycrystalline

– Feldspars (AlSi3O8): 10-20%

K- Feldspars (orthoclase,
microcline)
Plagioclase

– Clay Minerals <5% matrix

– Accessory Minerals - < 1 to

2%
 Sedimentary Rocks: CARBONATE

3 most common carbonates:

– Calcite - CaCO3 (Rhombohedral)
– Aragonite - CaCO3 (Orthorhombic)
– Dolomite - CaMg(CO3)2 (Rhombohedral)
 Carbon Capture and Storage
Reservoir rock: permeable subsurface, must be both porous and
permeable.
Cap Rock: is a unit with low permeability that impedes the escape of
hydrocarbons from the reservoir rock.
 Porosity

TOTAL POROSITY
Measure of the volume of void space in a
rock as a fraction of the total volume of the
rock.

EFFECTIVE POROSITY
Connected porosity that can store and
produce fluids.
 Permeability
Permeability refers to how well water flows
through a material – that is controlled by how
large the pores are, and how well connected
they are.
Carbon capture and Storage
 Geological Characteristics
of Sedimentary Basins Suitable for CO2 Storage
- Adequate depth (>800 m)
- Minimal tectonism
- Minimally folded, faulted or fractured
- Strong confining seals (shales or evaporitic beds)
- Harmonious sedimentary successions
- No significant diagenesis that may destroy porosity and permeability
 Geological Characteristics
of Sedimentary Basins Suitable for CO2 Storage
- Adequate depth (>800 m)
- Minimal tectonism
- Minimally folded, faulted or
fractured
- Strong confining seals (shales
or evaporitic beds)
- Harmonious sedimentary
successions
- No significant diagenesis that
may destroy porosity and
permeability
Deep saline aquifer
A saline aquifer can refer to any
one of a number of sedimentary
rock types saturated with saline,
non-potable water, from which the
water can be drawn, and into
which fluids can be injected.
Deep saline aquifers provide the
greatest volumetric potential for
storage anywhere in the world (as
high as 10,000 Gt).
Sleipner (Norway)
- Started in 1996 - the first
commercial-scale project dedicated to
geological CO2 storage.
- Separating and injecting 1 mill. tons
CO2 annually.
- Storing in saline aquifer above
reservoir. The CO2 is injected into
poorly cemented sands about 800–
1000 m below the sea floor.
Sleipner (Norway)
 Depleted gas/oil fields – EOR / EGR

Depleted oil and gas reservoirs are prime

candidates for CO2 storage for several reasons:
- The oil and gas that originally accumulated in
traps and did not escape demonstrating their
integrity and safety.
- The geological structure and physical properties
of most oil and gas fields have been extensively
studied and characterized.
- The Enhanced Oil Recovery .
 Depleted gas/oil fields – EOR / EGR

Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)

is a term used to cover various
technique employed for EOR
increasing the amount of crude Mobile oil target 15-27%
oil that can be extracted from an of pore volume
oil field. Traditional recovery
rates for conventional fields vary
from 20 to 40%, and for heavy
oil fields average around 10%.
 Depleted gas/oil fields – EOR / EGR

EOR as it relates to carbon capture and storage is usually tied to the use of
CO2 as a solvent. CO2 is miscible – that is to say it dissolves into oil – and as
such it helps reduce viscosity in reservoirs and helps the oil to expand out of the
porous rock in which it is often found. Since these oil reservoirs are also ideal
trapping mechanisms for the storage of gases, moving from CO2-EOR to
CO2 long-term storage is a logical step.
 Depleted gas/oil fields – EOR / EGR

The CO2 that is produced with the oil is separated and

reinjected back into the formation. Recycling of
produced CO2 decreases the amount of CO2 that must
be purchased.
Weyburn Project (Canada)

Depleted gas/oil
fields – EOR / EGR
In Salah gas field (Algeria)

Gas fields
Unmineable coal beds (with methane recovery)

Coal contains fractures

(cleats) that impart some
permeability to the
system. Between cleats,
solid coal has a very large
number of micropores into
which gas molecules from
the cleats
can diffuse and be tightly
adsorbed.
 Unmineable coal beds (with methane recovery)
- Enhanced coal bed methane recovery is a method of producing additional
methane (or natural gas)
- Techniques employed are similar to enhanced oil recovery techniques that
are applied to oil fields.
- It seems that adsorption is gradually replaced by absorption and the CO2
diffuses or ‘dissolves’ in coal.
Injector Allison (EUA)
- Production from the Allison field began in July
1989 and CO2 injection operations for ECBM
recovery commenced in April 1995.

Producer - CO2 injection improved methane recovery from

77% to 95% (ECBM has the potential to increase
the amount of produced methane to nearly 90% of
the gas, compared to conventional ) recovery.

- 277,000 tons of CO2 “sequestered”.

 Carbon capture and Storage
1-Compressão, injeção e
armazenamento
em camadas de carvão
profundas não mineráveis $$$ Recuperação de gás
metano do carvão
Captura de CO2
de fonte estacionária,
compressão e Aquíferos salinos
transporte
2-Compressão, injeção e
armazenamento
em aqüíferos salinos
profundos (não
Campos de petróleo utilizáveis)
3-Compressão, injeção e
armazenamento $$$ Recuperação de petróleo
em campos de petróleo (aumento da produção)
Candidates for CO2 storage in Brazil
Santos Basin (offshore) 
Campos Basin (offshore) 
hydrocarbon fields
saline aquifers
hydrocarbon fields
saline aquifers

São Francisco Basin (onshore)  saline aquifers

Recôncavo Basin (onshore)  hydrocarbon fields

saline aquifers

Paraná Basin (onshore)  saline aquifers

coal seams