Battelle and Partners Lead Pioneering Study of
Carbon Sequestration —
A Key Climate Change Mitigation Technology

Concerns about climate change are stimulating groundbreaking research on advanced technologies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which are believed to contribute to global warming. Battelle scientists and engineers are deeply engaged in the process of developing some of these technologies from fuel cells to biomass energy systems. Battelle is also focusing significant resources on developing climate change solutions applicable to fossil fuel based electricity generation plants. Battelle and a consortium of partners believe that developing innovative solutions that will allow us to simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emission, will also enable us to make substantial progress in addressing climate change and be able to enjoy a healthy and robust economy. A possible solution is to capture and permanently sequester carbon dioxide (CO₂), the principal greenhouse gas of concern. CO₂ would be captured from flue gases, pressurized into a near-liquid state, injected into wells drilled 800 meters or more below the surface of the earth, and thereby permanently isolated under dense, impenetrable rock formations known as caprocks. In addition to fossil fuel fired electric power plants, this capture and sequestration technology can also be used to control greenhouse gas emissions from other large industrial CO₂ sources such as refineries, cement plants and even future hydrogen production facilities for fuel cell powered vehicles.

Battelle is now leading a major climate change mitigation research project on permanent underground storage (geologic sequestration) as a technique for safely and permanently disposing of CO₂. Announced by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy in a major speech last November, the 18-month, $4.2 million study of the potential of geologic storage of CO₂ will take place at the Mountaineer coal-fired power plant owned by American Electric Power (AEP) in New Haven, West Virginia—in the heart of the largest concentration of fossil fuel fired power plants in the United States. Study results will enhance the understanding of geology along the Ohio-West Virginia corridor and surrounding areas of the Midwest, where deep, thick saline sandstone formations may provide secure underground storage for captured CO₂.

“The study is intended to demonstrate whether deep geologic formations can provide safe and permanent storage for CO₂ in the Ohio River Valley region,” stated Battelle’s Neeraj Gupta, project principal investigator. He and his colleagues will conduct a seismic survey within an 8-15 kilometer radius of Mountaineer to study the underground rock formations. A 3,000 meter well will be drilled to help researchers look at the geologic characteristics of underground structures, an important step toward determining whether or not they are suitable for CO₂ sequestration. Data will be used for simulations and risk assessments, as well as to design future injection and monitoring plans. Injection of CO₂ would not occur until the results of the study’s current phase have been completely evaluated. If the research demonstrates that underground storage is safe, practicable, affordable, and effective at this site, the project partners may progress to planning and constructing a first of a kind integrated CO₂ capture and sequestration system.

Deep saline reservoirs are attractive for CO₂ storage because they are found across large parts of the United States and many large industrial CO₂ sources are located directly above these very attractive CO₂ sequestration reservoirs. The AEP/Battelle report findings will indicate whether rocks above possible disposal areas are sturdy enough and sufficiently free of interconnected fractures to assure that carbon dioxide cannot gradually escape. Although the risks of leaks or adverse impacts are low, one purpose of the study is to design risk mitigation strategies even for these very unlikely scenarios.

The importance of this research is underscored by the impressive consortium of partners that is supporting AEP and Battelle. DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) provides $3.2 million of the total budget, while AEP, BP, the Ohio Coal Development Office of the Ohio Department of Development, and Schlumberger are contributing the remainder of the budget and inkind support. Scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are leading several key tasks in this integrated research project. Additional technical expertise is being provided by experts from West Virginia University, the Ohio Division of Geological Survey, the Ohio State University, and many field service vendors.

For additional information, contact Neeraj Gupta at (614) 424-3820, gupta@battelle.org, or Jim Dooley at (301) 314-6766, dooleyj@battelle.org.