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Qatar Carbonates and Carbon Storage Research Centre

Shell-Imperial Grand Challenge Programme in Clean Fossil Fuels

A Vision for Clean Fossil FuelsJ P Martin Trusler

Professor of Thermophysics, Department of Chemical EngineeringDirector, Imperial College Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage



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The Long-Term Vision…



The Future of Fossil Fuels: Decarbonisation• Continued use of Fossil Fuels for most of this

century is essential/inevitable– To meet global energy demands– To address security of supply issues

• So we need options that permit continued use of fossil fuels for as long as we need

• This will require, inter alia– A wide range of CO2 capture and storage options– A paradigm shift in the way that we produce and use

fossil fuels

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The Clean Fossil Fuels Vision… a paradigm shift• How would we produce fossil fuels – gas, oil, coal – if we

discovered them today?– Combine upstream recovery and downstream processing

• Long-term continued use of fossil fuels requires the development of radical new recovery/production processes which have the following key elements:– Extract carbon as far upstream as possible, with minimal release

of GHGs (CO2,CH4…)– Integrate capture and storage with production – Lead to step increases in recovery factors– Release to the surface only what we want…clean fuel, power,

heat, chemical building blocks

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Sub-surface Separation and Refining

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Oil/water/gas/solids separation

Refining to methanol, other feedstocks

Synthesis Gas production

Gas-to-Liquids (GTL)

Hydrocarbon fractionation



Integrated Production of Clean Energy, Fuels and Feedstocks

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Fuels: H2, Methanol … Chemicals,

Feedstocks… CO/H2 Syngas

ElectricityHeat



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CO2-EOR with Long-Term Storage



Radical Process Opportunities• Mobilisation or treatment of (heavy) hydrocarbons in the reservoir

• Rigsite or sub-surface separation processes

• Downhole gas conversion: gas-to-liquids or hydrogen production

• Rigsite or sub-surface hydrogen production from liquid hydrocarbons

• In situ liquids refining: downhole hydrocracking

• Wellhead, subsea or downhole gas turbines forpower

• CO2 reinjection for EOR, recycle or sequestration

• In situ coal processing

• Process integration and environmental impact

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9

The Reality –Where have we got to…?



Carbon Capture and Storage

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CO2-EOR

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Research Needs and Goals: Underground CO2• Focus of this presentation on use of CO2 underground for:

– Stimulation of fossil fuel recovery (EOR, ECBM)– Long-term storage

• Need to enhance our scientific understanding and engineering know-how to:– Design effective and efficient EOR/ECBM/storage projects– Increase confidence in long-term injection & storage projects– Extend the usage of fossil fuels while limiting GHG emissions

• Major research projects at Imperial:– Shell-Imperial Grand Challenge Programme in Clean Fossil Fuels– Qatar Carbonates and Carbon Storage Research Centre

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Shell Grand Challange Programme 2007-2011

• Theme A: Underground CO2 Management– Understanding and Optimising CO2 processes within

underground reservoirs: EOR, ECBM, Sequestration– 9 academic staff, 3 Postdocs and 6 PhD students– Started 2007

• Theme B: Improved recovery of non-conventional hydrocarbons– Novel methods, underpinning science and engineering– Started 2009

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1414

Project 1:Thermophysical Properties

• PI: Professor Martin Trusler

Project 2: Reservoir Multiphase Flow

• PI: Professor Martin Blunt

Well

Regions of trapped CO2

CO2 migration

Water movement

Project 3: Enhanced Coal-Bed Methane

• PI: Professor Sevket Durucan

Project 4: CO2-Caprock Interactions

• PI: Professor Sergei Kazarian

Project 5: H2-CO2 Infrastructure. PIs: Professor Nilay Shah, Professor Nigel Brandon



Carbon Dioxide

DecaneWater0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8 0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Project 1: Thermophysical Properties

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High-pressure high-temperature phase behaviour: CO2 + hydrocarbon + water

High-pressure high-temperature interfacial tension: CO2 + hydrocarbon + water

T = 373 K



Project 1: Thermophysical Properties

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High-pressure high-temperature pH and solubility

of CO2 in concentrated

brines0

5

10

15

0.000 0.005 0.010 0.015 0.020xCO2

pB

P /

MP

a

Solubility of CO2 in (5wt% NaCl + 1wt% KCl)aq: T/K = 298.15 (■); 323.15 (■); 343.15 K (■); 373.15 (■); 423.15 K (■)

ZrO2 tubeReference material



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Project 2: Reservoir Multiphase Flow• PI: Professor Martin Blunt (Earth

Science & Engineering)

Well

Regions of trapped CO2

CO2 migration

Water movement

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 10

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

Water SaturationR

elat

ive

Per

mea

bilit

y

ExperimentalPredicted

4,800 m

4 mm



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Project 3: Enhanced Coal-Bed Methane

• PI: Professor Sevket Durucan(Earth Science & Engineering)

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0 1 2 3 4 5 6Reservoir pressure (MPa)

k/k0

100% CO2 (20 oC)

100% CO2 (0 oC,

+25% VL, -25%E)

10% reduction in overall swelling

20% reduction in overall swelling



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Project 4: CO2-Caprock Interactions• PI: Professor Sergei Kazarian

(Chemical Engineering)

FTIR Spectroscopy



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Project 5: H2-CO2 Infrastructure

PIs: Professor Nilay Shah (CE), Professor Nigel Brandon (ESE)

CarbonCapture

Transportation

Storage‘Demand’CO2

Production

‘Supply’CO2

Sequestration

PSA/TSAAmine ScrubbingPhysical SorbentCryogenicsMembranes

Onshore PipelinesOffshore PipelinesWater Carriers

Aquifer‘Depleted’ GeologicalEnhanced Recovery GeologicalMineralisationOcean SequestrationBiosequestration



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Qatar Carbonates and Carbon Storage Research

Centre2008-2017

Programme Director: Geoffrey Maitland

– improving reservoir recovery and carbon storage potential



Qatar Carbonates and Carbon Storage Research Centre• A 10 Year, $70M Collaborative Research Partnership

between Qatar Petroleum, Shell and Imperial College London– Understanding carbonate reservoirs– CO2/Reservoir fluids and their interaction with carbonate rocks– State-of-the-art reservoir simulator for carbonates– Pilot-scale validation– Field-scale demonstration project– Growing Qatar’s future engineering talent and expertise– Growing Imperial capacity in CCS/Advanced Fossil Fuels

(4 Lectureships)

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Combining Forces to address Key Challenges:

Sustainable Optimization of Production and Recovery from Qatar Reservoirs

Providing the future Technical Expertise and People needs of Qatar and Qatar Petroleum

Advanced Characterisation of Rocks & Fluids

Pore/Fracture-scale Physics & Chemistry

Field Demonstration Project(s)

Carbonate Reservoirs

World-leading Research

Carbon Capture and Storage

Improved Oil/Gas Recovery

Shell

QP

Imperial

Qatar Reservoir Expertise The Strategy:

Characterise & understand the Qatar reservoirs in depth

Develop state-of-the art reservoir multiphase flow simulators

Use to design optimum CO2 storageand oil & gas recovery processes

Validate with ‘Field-scale Laboratory’

International Oil & Gas Expertise

Integrated Methodology andSimulator

Validation at Laboratory and Field Scale



Project 1: Carbonate Reservoir Characterization

AIMS:• To reconstruct the sequence stratigraphic framework of Qatari reservoirs.• To identify the appropriate physical, chemical and mechanical properties

of fractured carbonate reservoirs and the in situ fluids. • To apply this understanding to selected Qatar reservoir(s) through

analysis of existing log data and core materials, and new measurements where necessary.

• Strong links with Shell Grand Challenge on Clean Fossil Fuels• Emphasis on state-of-the-art experimental measurement

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Project 2: Carbonate Reservoir Pore/Fracture-Scale Physics and Chemistry AIMS:

• To investigate the physics of multiphase fluid displacement mechanisms applied to carbonates.

• To study and understand the relationship between mineral surface chemistry and wettability/relative permeability relationships.

• To study experimentally, understand and develop predictive models for the phase behaviour and transport properties of CO2-mediated reservoir fluids.

• Combine experiment – including pore-scale imaging – and modelling.

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Project 3. Integrated Simulator for Carbonate Reservoirs AIMS:• To apply new tools for modelling fractured reservoirs developed at Imperial.• To incorporate the detailed reservoir and fluid characterizations and

underpinning physics and chemistry developed in Projects 1 and 2 into an integrated reservoir simulator customised to Qatari reservoirs.

• To use the simulator to design and optimize new improved recovery strategies and CO2 sequestration operations.

• To integrate the formulation developed into reservoir simulation software used by Qatar Petroleum and Shell.

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Fractures Matrix



Project 4. Validation of New Physics, Models & SimulatorAIMS:• To validate this integrated simulator by comparison with existing

production/recovery data from Qatar carbonate reservoirs. • To perform studies at the laboratory, pilot-plant and field scale

designed to collect sufficient data to validate (and refine) the carbonate reservoir simulator and its incorporated new physics.

Validation and application of new simulation tools.

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Project 5. Field Demonstration Projects(s)AIMS:• To apply the methodologies and models/simulator developed in

Projects 1-4 to the design, optimization and real-time management of one or more field demonstration projects for CO2 sequestration in a depleted carbonate reservoir or implementation of enhanced recovery injection processes

• To use this project(s) to validate and refine the simulator and its associated reservoir rock-fluid characterization methodology

Core application underpinning the whole project.

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2.2: Physics and Chemistry of Fluids & MineralsA major element of project 2 focusing on:

– Reaction rates for mineral dissolution in CO2 + brine– Phase equilibria of CO2 in brines, hydrocarbon mixtures and Qatar-

sourced crude oils– Interfacial tension of CO2 with brines and oils– CO2, brine, oil contact angle on mineral substrates– Viscosity, density and diffusion coefficients– Capillary flow in model porous media

• Connects with:– 2.1 Reactive transport in porous media– 2.3 Thermodynamic and transport-property modelling– Project 3 New reservoir simulator

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3 Academic staff3 Postdocs4/5 PhD studentsMSc projects

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