Site Characterization and Development of aMonitoring Plan at a 1-million Tonne CCS
Demonstration: Decatur, Illinois USA
Robert J. Finley, Principal Investigator
Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium
Director, Advanced Energy Technology Initiative
University of Illinois, USA
RITE Tokyo, Japan
24 January 2013• The Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium is funded by

the U.S. Department of Energy through the National Energy
Technology Laboratory (NETL) via the Regional Carbon
Sequestration Partnership Program (contract number DE-FC2605NT42588) and by a cost share agreement with the Illinois
Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Office ofCoal Development through the Illinois Clean Coal Institute.
• The Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC) is acollaboration led by the geological surveys of Illinois, Indiana, andKentucky• Landmark Graphics software via University Donation Programand Petrel* E&P software platform via Schlumberger Carbon*Mark of Schlumberger
Services are gratefully acknowledged• Provide a basic workflow for Site Selection andCharacterization• How to decrease uncertainty and reduce project risk

• Demonstrate development of a monitoring plan
• Present results to date of monitoring planimplementation

• Basin Analysis• Site (prospect) selection• Site delineation• Site development and implementation of monitoring• Injection of 1,000 metric tons per day, 2011-2014• Ongoing monitoring during and after injection

• A collaboration of the Midwest

Decatur

Geological Sequestration
Consortium, the Archer Daniels
Midland Company (ADM),
Schlumberger Carbon Services,and other subcontractors
to inject 1 million metric tonsof anthropogenic carbon dioxide
at a depth of 7,000 +/- ft(2,000 +/- m) to test geologicalcarbon sequestration in a saline
reservoir at a site in Decatur, IL

MGSC monitoring well
MGSC Injection and geophone wells

1 km
photo by Illinois Dept. of Transportation, 8 November 2010

Use Existing Well and Seismic Data

Illinois Basin Stratigraphic Column
Showing Seals and Sinks
Upper Mt. Simon used extensivelyfor natural gas storage

New Albany (Seal)

Mt. Simon is overlain by
three thick impermeable shales
and numerous thinner shale-richstrataMaquoketa (Seal)

Eau Claire Shale (Seal)
Mount Simon Sandstone (Sink)

Decatur

At Decatur the top of
the Mount Simon is1,698 m measured depth
Nearest Mount Simon
well is 30 km to thesoutheast

080 kmHinton #7penetrated 793 m(2600 ft) of Mount
Simon

Decatur

Wells withPrecambrian
granite080 km

2D Lines for a First Assessment

Line 301

L Line 17
Line 101

Caterpillar

Road traffic noise due
to tractor trailers
visiting ADM plant.

ADM

Electrical noisefrom power lines
and 60Hztransformer plantLine 201

L Line 27Well
CCS1
Line 401

Thick concretesurface creating
source generated
noise

Plant Related
Noise from ADM
plant

Results of First 2D Assessment
Help Prepare for Drilling Injection Well

New Albany(Seal)

Maquoketa(Seal)
Eau Claire (Seal)
Mt. Simon Sandstone (Sink)Correlate Horizons From a well 75 km to the SouthB. New Albany

T. Eau Claire
T. Mt. Simon

T. Precambri

Predictions and New Interpretations

Eau Claire Shale
Upper Mt. Simon

Middle Mt. Simon

Lower Mt. Simon
Injection Interval

Eau Claire Shale
Upper Mt. Simon

Middle Mt. Simon

Lower Mt. Simon
Injection IntervalMount Simon
Depositional Analogue:
Brahmaputra
River System
Red =>10% 

5.
5

3.
5kmmiles

Sand-rich but low
porosity/perm layers

800800mm
DDECCCA Dehydration/ compression
facility location
B Pipeline route (1.9 km)
C Injection well site
D Verification/ monitoring
well site
E Geophone wellBBBAAA• IBDP fully operational 24/7
• IBDP is the first 1 million
tonne carbon capture andstorage project from a biofuel
facility in the US• Injection through fall 2014
• Intensive post-injection
monitoring under MGSC
through fall 2017

Cumulative Injection(18 January 2013):
378,450 tonnes

Develop and Implement• 17 groundwater
wells, 4 permitrequired• 110 soil fluxrings• 21 InSAR
reflectors• 1 air monitoringsite• Installed 17 wells at 11locations between Fall2008 and Spring 2010• Well depths: 30 to 300
feet (9 to 91m)

• Monthly sampling began
in March 2009

• Analyzed for anions,
cations, alkalinity, TDS,
NH3, C and O isotopes,
TOC, and TIC

• Well G104
• Note injection
period data
are generally
consistent withpreinjection
data• Chloride
decreasing• Network of 100+ rings• Ecosystem flux

estimation, atmosphericmodeling, and leakdetection• Weekly point datacollection began
Summer 2009
• 30-minute data frommultiplexer to define
diurnal variability

Detail View

Figure Source: Daniel Byers (ISGS)• Quarterly data collection
began Summer 2011

• Analyzed for CO2, N2,

Ar + O2, light hydrocarbons(C1 to C6), δ13C CO2,and14C• Biogenic activity consumes
O2 and generally CO2
concentrations increasewith depth• Range of δ 13C CO2 in soil:-10 to -25 per mil• Distinct signatures ofsoil CO2 and source CO2

Satellite interferometry

No atmospheric releases

No surface deformation
as of August 2012 with~ 250,000 tonnes injected

Eddy covariance air monitoring

RST*
6,800

Top ofCO2

reservoir
saturation
toolLog

6,900

7,000

7,100

Logged March 1, 2012 with ~75,000*Mark of Schlumberger tonnes metric tons injected

Injection
Perforations

from Schlumberger Carbon Services

Geophonein specialcarrier
strapped to3.5 inch (8.9cm) tubing

3,500 ft (1,060 m) well with 31
geophones cemented into
uncased hole on tubing string

Injection Well

Nine Sampling Levels In the
Mount Simon Sandstone

November 2010

Two Sampling Levels
Above the Eau Claire Shale
P portTwo Fluid Sample Sets
Collected Preinjection
samplingport

Westbay multilevel groundwater characterization and monitoring system is a mark of S

June-August 2011

Constituent

Conductivity (mS/cm)

ShallowIrontonGroundwater Galesville

Mt. Simon(injectionformation)• Shallow
groundwater(16 well average)

1.580

170

TDS (mg/L)

1,000

65,600190,000

Cl- (mg/L)

170

36,900120,000• Ironton-Galesville

1180

680

Alkalinity (mg/L)

380

13080

(2 zone average;
swab only)

Na+ (mg/L)

140

17,20050,000Ca2+ (mg/L)

100

5,200

19,000K+ (mg/L)

1520

1,700

Mg2+ (mg/L)

50

950

1,800

pH (units)

7.2

6.9

5.9

-

Br (mg/L)• Mt. Simon(9 zone average)

Rock Samples
and Synthetic Brine
Reacted Over 3-9Months

from Yoksoulian, 2011

Degraded clay minerals

3

CO2 in Reservoir
Westbay Zones

21Westbay Zones 2 and 3
equivalent to lower and upper
perforations, respectively
from Schlumberger Carbon Services

Idealdesign

Case of shots inpermitted areasonly. Receiverlocationsrelatively
unrestricted

Ideal design
with planned
offsets

FinaldesignAccess toknown
permitted
areas only.

Acquireddatafrom Leetaru, ISGS

Valley eroded into
Precambrian

Precambrian structural highTop of Mount Simon Structure

2D in Time

Base Mount Simon Structurefrom Leetaru, ISGS

3D in Depth (ft)

From Schlumberger
Carbon Services24 levels of the 3-Component
geophones are collecting
microseismic data.
Active Levels are 8 to 31.
Inactive, are levels 1 to 7, notshown.

GeophysicalWell #1
With OYO 3C
geophones29

ADM CCS #1(Injection well)With PS3 OYO 4C
geophones

8

Two of the 4-Component
geophones are within the Mt.
Simon, the third is positioned
above the caprock(Eau Claire Shale).
Perforation Zone Within
the Mt. Simon

GroundLevel

Verification Well #1

33
10

3

St. Peter
Sandstone

Top of the Mt. Simon
Sandstone

21TD= 7236
feet MD

Granite Wash
(Base of the Mt. Simon)
46

Preliminary Analysis• Four component
geophones deployed in
injection well adequate tomonitor activity• Microseismic events
clustered mainly in fourgroups NW of verificationwell• Events predominately in
Injection Well with Sensors
312minus 2 to minus 3.5
magnitude• Event clusters elongatedroughly parallel to basinal
σ1 direction
from Schlumberger Carbon Services

from Schlumberger Carbon Services

FromSchlumbergerCarbonServices

Verification Well Monitoring Data

11 bar (162 psi)

Z4: 2.6 bar (38 psi) 33 m

Z6: 1 bar(14 psi) 96 m• Mount Simon Sandstone reservoir is accepting CO2 more easily
than expected resulting in quicker detection at verification well

• Upward plume growth limited by reservoir permeability stratification,
as modeled, and confirmed by pressure observations• Resulting plume believed thinner than expected and was notdefinitively detected with a 3D vertical seismic profile at 75,000
tonnes cumulative injection in March 2012; new survey due inJanuary-February 2013

• Mt. Simon 200,000 ppm brine is more corrosive than expected,
leading to corrosion of verification well cabling and need to replacecorrosion inhibitor in well sooner than expected• With 378,000 tonnes injected, CO2 remains in lowermost Mt. Simon;
internal reservoir heterogeneity affecting CO2 distribution

Midwest GeologicalSequestration Consortium
www.sequestration.org
finley@illinois.edu

Photo credits: Daniel Byers