Integrated reservoir monitoring at the Illinois Basin – Decatur Project

Abstract

The Illinois Basin – Decatur Project (IBDP), a United States Department of Energy funded project, is a fully integrated industrial carbon capture and storage (CCS) project where carbon dioxide (CO2) is captured from the Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) corn processing plant at the in Decatur, Illinois, USA. The captured CO2 is dehydrated, compressed, and then injected deep into the Mt. Simon Formation. IBDP commenced injection in November 2011 and has a goal of injecting one million metric tonnes of CO2 into the lower Mt. Simon Sandstone over a three-year period. A range of monitoring, verification, and accounting (MVA) tools are being used to monitor the CO2 plume development in the deep subsurface. These monitoring tools include time-lapse RST* reservoir saturation tool logging in the project wells, continuous pressure and temperature measurements from multiple levels above, within, and below the storage formation, deep fluid sampling with associated geochemical analysis, time-lapse three-dimensional (3D) vertical seismic profile (VSP) surveys, and microseismic monitoring. MVA data has been used to quantitatively and qualitatively calibrate the reservoir simulations. As a result, the project now has robust, history-matched reservoir simulations that predict CO2 and pressure plume development over time. MVA data and modelling results indicate that the CO2 plume has spread within a thin, high permeability zone in the lower Mt. Simon Sandstone and that a low permeability zone in the upper part of the lower Mt. Simon Sandstone is currently acting as an effective baffle to CO2 migration and pressure transmission above 2,094 m (6,870 ft). Lessons learned over the course of IBDP are being applied to the adjacent Illinois Industrial CCS Project.