This document is a supporting document to deliverable MS6.1 UK Storage Appraisal Final Report. This is Appendix A5.4 - Storage Capacity in Large Open Aquifers Examplar : Base Case Simulation and Sensitivities to Top Surface and Heterogeneity
One of the three main types of saline aquifer store relevant to UK CO2 storage capacity that this project identified were “open aquifers”. In order to obtain more reliable storage capacityestimates for open aquifers, dynamic modelling was performed by numerical simulation using two classes of model: simplified generic models, termed “Representative Structures”, and more detailed models of selected regions of actual UKCS aquifer units, termed “Exemplars”.The Forties sandstone of the Seles Formation off North East Scotland was modelled in detail as an exemplar of a large open aquifer.
Overall, this work has presented a quantitative framework for assessing storage si tes based on different constraints – pressure, migration distance and migration speed and placed different cases into three storage regimes. This work has shown that open aquifers of modest permeability and dip can prove to be favourable storage sites with large storage capacities.These aquifers limit the speed with which the CO2 migrates while the extensive open pore volume can help dissipate pressure, avoiding pressure problems associated with other types of storage site.
This suggests that with careful selection and design, large open aquifers are promising sites for CO2 storage
One of the three main types of saline aquifer store relevant to UK CO2 storage capacity that this project identified were “open aquifers”. In order to obtain more reliable storage capacityestimates for open aquifers, dynamic modelling was performed by numerical simulation using two classes of model: simplified generic models, termed “Representative Structures”, and more detailed models of selected regions of actual UKCS aquifer units, termed “Exemplars”.The Forties sandstone of the Seles Formation off North East Scotland was modelled in detail as an exemplar of a large open aquifer.
Overall, this work has presented a quantitative framework for assessing storage si tes based on different constraints – pressure, migration distance and migration speed and placed different cases into three storage regimes. This work has shown that open aquifers of modest permeability and dip can prove to be favourable storage sites with large storage capacities.These aquifers limit the speed with which the CO2 migrates while the extensive open pore volume can help dissipate pressure, avoiding pressure problems associated with other types of storage site.
This suggests that with careful selection and design, large open aquifers are promising sites for CO2 storage