Novel Technology Locates Potential Carbon Sequestration Areas

Sensors Promise Quick, Cost Effective Way of Finding Sites

Washington, DC - Researchers at the Office of Fossil Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) have launched a major breakthrough in carbon storage efforts with SEQURE(TM), the only commercially available technology that can search vast areas for abandoned oil and gas reservoirs that could be used to permanently store carbon dioxide.

A helicopter affixed with SEQURE Well Finding Technology hovers in the sky above Salt Creek Oilfield in Wyoming. Attached to airborne vehicles such as heli- copters, SEQURE's magnetic and methane sensors can quickly locate abandoned and leaking wells over vast areas.

This novel technology - the quickest way to evaluate potential carbon dioxide storage sites - is helping to bring carbon storage efforts into play and was recognized this year by R&D Magazine as a winner of the esteemed R&D 100 Award. The award is given annually to the 100 most technologically significant new products to hit the market during the year.

"This is the first time an R&D 100 Award has been given to a technology developed for permanent storage of carbon dioxide," said Thomas Shope, Acting Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy. "This recognition underscores NETL's role as a leading research center for carbon storage."

Many experts think that one of the most promising solutions to global warming is to store the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in geologic formations. Depleted oil and gas reservoirs are promising storage sites, but they must be evaluated to ensure that the hundreds of abandoned wells perforating the caprock have been properly sealed and won't release gases back into the atmosphere.

Before carbon may be stored in the geologic formations, every well must be checked for leaks. Past well-searching techniques, such as ground penetrating radar and portable hydrocarbon analyzers, were time consuming, expensive, and as a result, only practical for small areas. Well searches for proposed carbon dioxide storage sites are anticipated to cover hundreds of square kilometers, and the longer it takes to evaluate any particular site, the longer it takes to actually employ permanent carbon storage.

SEQURE Well Finding Technology, which was developed by NETL in conjunction with an international team of researchers from Apogee Scientific Inc. (Englewood, Colo.), Fugro Airborne Surveys (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada), and LaSen Inc. (Las Cruces, N.M.), is both a time-saving and cost-effective way to locate abandoned wells, so that ground teams can more efficiently evaluate them. On a helicopter equipped with magnetic and methane sensors, SEQURE goes airborne to swiftly locate lost wells.

SEQURE's magnetic sensors detect any steel well casings in the area, which are then depicted on maps that are used for ground reconnaissance. The magnetic sensors are able to detect at least 95 percent of the wells present in oil and gas fields. In the 2005 proof-of-concept flight over the Salt Creek Oilfield in Wyoming, SEQURE's magnetic sensors detected 133 of 139 wells. The remainder of the wells remained hidden because of corroded or removed casing, or because the casing was made of a non-magnetic material, such as wood.

Since all potential leaks must be detected to ensure permanent carbon dioxide storage, SEQURE's methane detectors then fill in the gaps. The detectors, which will locate a leaking well whether or not a steel casing is present, are designed to locate leaks by detecting volatile components that have migrated to the earth's surface via the well bore.

- End of Techline

For more information, contact: Mike Jacobs, FE Office of Communications, 202-586-0507