Sequestration of CO₂ in Various Geological Media: An Assessment of Potential Volumes in Indiana Using GIS Tools

Radhakrishnan, Premkrishnan, Wilfrido Solano-Acosta, and John A. Rupp
Indiana Geological Survey, Bloomington, IN

Geographic information systems (GIS) can be used in the evaluation of geological media for carbon sequestration. The advantage of spatial analysis has been demonstrated in the Midcontinent Interactive Digital Carbon Atlas and Relational DataBase (MIDCARB), a Web site created by Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, and Ohio geological surveys with funds from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Data available in the MIDCARB was used to combine the geological information available on oil and gas reservoirs, unminable coals, deep-saline aquifers, and shales in Indiana using ArcGIS. Integration of these data allowed for the calculation of the maximum CO₂ volumes that could be stored, assuming 100 percent efficiency during injection. This calculation presents an ideal scenario most likely different from the actual one owing to inherent variations in reservoir characteristics. This idealized assessment for carbon sequestration potential in geological media, however, is useful as a first criterion to identify sites for more detailed studies.

Various parameters (temperature, pressure, thickness, and porosity) considered in the assessment of carbon sequestration volumes in Indiana were interpolated into raster grids using ArcGIS. A Visual Basic® macro that takes into account the physical properties of CO₂ was used to calculate the idealized volumes from the interpolated raster data sets. Case scenarios are presented to account for the lack of other critical parameters. The volumes of CO₂ in metric tons that could be sequestered into different types of geological media are: oil and gas reservoirs ~150 million, coal seams ~26 billion, saline aquifers ~74.5 billion, and shales ~500 billion.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90031©2004 AAPG Eastern Section Meeting, Columbus, Ohio, October 3-5, 2004