Scholarly record

SYSTEMATIC RESEARCHS FOR REDUCING CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS FROM FOSSIL FUELS USING GEOLOGICAL STORAGE IN ROMANIA

Sorin Anghel, Constantin Ștefan Sava, Alexandra Dudu

Abstract

The Romanian storage sites for CO2 geological storage are located in the Oltenia Region, in the south – western part of Romania, within a 50 km radius circle around Turceni Power Plant. This zone comprises a part of the Getic Depression and a small part of the western sector of the Moesian Platform, two of the main geological units bearing oil and gas deposits, which were explored and studied over the years. In this zone of investigation only aquifers in the Tertiary formations have been considered as potentially suitable for CO2 storage locations. These types of formations are located at depths (greater than 800 m and no more than 3,000 m) suitable to develop a CO2 storage project. The Tertiary has also generally been better studied over the years in the process of oil and gas exploration and exploitation (which facilitated the data collection for the Project).Based on available data (interpreted seismic lines and some well logs from the area), on the geological knowledge of this area (structural map at the base of Tertiary deposits), on the distribution of the main faults at the regional scale, including the area around Turceni site as well as additional geological information about the investigation area (stratigraphy, lithology, sedimentary systems, tectonic evolution), 11 possible storage sites have been identified. A more detailed analysis of the collected data conducted after the preliminary selection of 7 sites concluded that the best suitable storage sites are Zone 5 and Zone 1. For these sites the selected storage solution is deep saline aquifer. Both reservoirs are made of several sarmatian sequences composed from course sediments. The interpretation of seismic lines and of the well logs, combined with the information extracted from cores and outcrops, lead to the selection of 7 potential storage sites. The static and dynamic modelling performed for each of the sites lead to a first characterization of their associated storage complexes to be completed and finalized during the appraisal. Monitoring is a crucial component for risk mitigation and takes place in all phases of the life-cycle of a storage site, except maybe the very early exploration phase. The Storage Directive therefore includes a number of provisions on monitoring, further guidance being encountered within Guidance document 2 of the same Directive „Characterization of the Storage Complex, CO2 Stream Composition, Monitoring and Corrective Measures”. The selection of the monitoring methods must be made taking into account their state of development for CO2 storage monitoring, the medium that they can investigate, their applicability in relation to site specific characteristics, their detection limit, accuracy, signal-to-noise ratio and none the less their associated costs. Monitoring is meant to reduce the risks and to ensure that the impact of a CCS project is maintained within the safety limits during its lifecycle until the transfer of responsibility to the Competent Authority. Therefore the monitoring plan must include all the mandatory elements for the operational control specified in Annex II of the aforementioned Directive and the best available techniques for the CO2 plume tracking and observation of the dynamic behaviour of CO2, monitoring of all potential leakage pathways and detection and quantification of leakage[12]. Many monitoring methods have been deployed within the current CCS pilot and demo projects in order to meet the legal requirements and to demonstrate CO2 geological storage safety.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgem2021/4.1/s19.59

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