5 - The role of pressure in carbon capture and storage (CCS)

Abstract

Pressure controls the phase and the behaviour of CO2 in the subsurface environment, and may be used to define and identify suitable containment sites, even when the usual structural trapping mechanisms appear to be absent. It is also an essential property in quantifying the capacity of storage sites and determines the injection pressures that can safely be used. This chapter describes the fundamentals of pressures and overpressures in the subsurface and their relevance for sites for the geological storage of CO2.