Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership Completes Test Well

March 22, 2007

 

Columbus, OH--The Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (MRCSP) has completed an 8,000-foot deep test well at FirstEnergy's R.E. Burger Power Plant, an important milestone in its regional field tests to research the sequestering of carbon dioxide deep underground. This technology offers promise as one approach to stabilizing or reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

 

Carbon dioxide or CO2 is a common gas released during a coal-based plant's combustion process. In carbon sequestration, carbon dioxide is captured from the power plant stack in concentrated form, compressed, then injected through a deep well into porous rock such as sandstone or limestone. The carbon dioxide spreads through these porous layers and is expected to be sealed permanently in place by layers of dense rock above.

 

The field test at the Burger Plant, located south of Shadyside, Ohio, just across the river from Moundsville, West Virginia, is one of three geologic field tests being conducted by the MRCSP and one of more than 20 similar projects under way across the country. These projects are part of a national strategy to test the feasibility of carbon sequestration technology. They are sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). In Ohio, NETL is working with the MRCSP, which is a large team headed by Battelle and covering an eight-state region in the Midwest consisting of Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

 

At the Burger plant, scientists have been collecting data on the geology of the site to determine which geologic layers would be good targets for injection of carbon dioxide and to ensure that there are good seals, or caprock layers above the injection layers to ensure the CO2 is well contained. A seismic survey, which involves the use of sound waves sent into the ground to define the geologic layers over a several mile area around the injection site, was conducted at the site in the summer of 2006. In late December 2006 through January 2007, a test well of more than 8,000 feet--more than 1 ½ miles deep--was drilled through the geological zones of interest to further define the geology at the site. Following analysis of the geologic data, the test well will be converted into an injection well for the small scale injection test.

 

"That data is important for developing profiles of the rocks," said Phil Jagucki, Battelle's Operations Manager for the MRCSP's geologic field tests. "The analyses will take several months to complete before they can be reviewed and approved by the Ohio regulators so that injection can begin in 2008."

 

FirstEnergy hosted a tour of the Burger site in late January 2007 to view the MRCSP's drilling activities and also Powerspan's ECO multi-pollutant control technology being demonstrated at the site. The tour provided visitors with an update on the full scope of MRCSP's sequestration program and also Powerspan's plans for developing and demonstrating its ECO2 CO2 capture technology.

 

A large group of visitors from the DOE, the State of Ohio, and the MRCSP participated in the site tour. They included Jeff Jarrett, Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy, Scott Klara, NETL's Director, Office of Coal & Power Systems R&D, and others. Mark Shanahan, Director of the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority and newly appointed Energy Adviser to Governor Strickland, and Sean Logan, newly appointed Director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, were also in attendance. Richard Grigg, FirstEnergy's COO, welcomed the visitors to the Burger plant. Each of these organizations has been involved in the research.

 

Battelle and MRCSP scientists now are beginning a series of analyses in the test well to confirm that the geology is indeed suitable for injection of CO2. The information from these tests and the other data gathered at the site will be used as a basis for obtaining an injection permit from the State of Ohio prior to converting the test well into an injection well and proceeding further to inject CO2 in the small amounts planned as part of the test. The analyses being carried out in the test well use a variety of tools to measure rock properties and gather information on subsurface conditions. If possible, scientists also will take core samples of the rocks to further calibrate the other measurements.

 

Battelle is the world's largest non-profit independent research and development organization, with 20,000 employees in more than 120 locations worldwide. Battelle's activities include managing or co-managing five national laboratories for the U.S. Department of Energy. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Battelle conducts $3.8 billion in R&D annually through contract research, laboratory management, and technology commercialization. Battelle provides innovative solutions to some of the world's most important problems such as global climate change through programs such as the MRCSP and participation in other DOE Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships, the Mountaineer Project, the Global Technology Strategy Program, and supporting the FutureGen Alliance, a major international initiative to demonstrate clean coal technology including CO2 sequestration.

 

For more information, visit www.battelle.org or contact Media Relations Manager Mark Berry at (614) 424-5544 or berrym@battelle.org.