This month's Meeting will be held on:
April 17, 2008
And will be held at:
Pastimes Café at the Hampton Inn
5311 Buckeystown Pike
Frederick, MD 21704
Click HERE for a map to the meeting site.
Meeting Details:
PRESENTER:
William J. Holtz – Bechtel Power Corporation
TOPIC:
Geologic Carbon Sequestration – Geologic carbon sequestration can be defined as the placement of CO2 into an underground repository in such a way that it will remain permanently stored. While alternative sequestration methods exist, geologic carbon sequestration is the most viable option for large scale CO2 storage for centuries to come. If injected deeply at carefully selected sites, there is a high probability of storing upwards of 99% of CO2 injected underground for over a millennia.
Three distinct phases exist in any geological carbon questration process. First, CO
2 is captured at the source and compressed for ease of transport. The CO2 is then transported to the storage site via pipeline. Once it arrives, injection wells are used to insert the CO2 into the designated geologic unit for storage. If this storage phase is to be successful on an industrial scale, several conditions must be satisfied. The potential geologic host (reservoir unit) needs to have high porosity, permeability, injectivity, and potential capacity. An effective cap rock (seal), such as shale, must overlie the injected CO2 reservoir to keep the CO2 trapped underground. In order to remain in a supercritical state and occupy a smaller storage volume, the CO2 must be injected to depths of at least 800-1,000 meters below ground surface. Additionally, a combination of different CO2 trapping mechanisms are necessary if efficientlong-term storage is to be attained.
Five major types of subsurface geologic formations are being explored for their CO2 storagepotential: oil and natural gas reservoirs, deep saline formations, unmineable coal seams,basalt formations, and organic rich shales. Methods that can be coupled with enhancedresource recovery efforts, such as enhanced oil recovery in depleted oil fields, are desirable tothe electricity industry because the recovered resources offset some of the additional costsassociated with the geologic carbon sequestration process. However, in the long term, it isprobable that the majority of CO2 storage will occur in saline reservoirs, as these formationsare broadly distributed and have large storage potential.
While geologic carbon sequestration has the potential to trap CO
2 safely underground formillions of years, site hazards do exist. Careful site characterization both prior to site selectionand after CO2 injection commences is an important part of identifying these geologic sitehazards and subsequently mitigating and/or avoiding them.
Our Presenter:
William Holtz is a geologist with Bechtel Power Corporation. He obtained aB.S. in Geophysics from the University of Akron in December of 2003.
All scientists, engineers, professionals and students are welcome…you need not be a member to attend!
TIME: 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Past Times Cafe (see above)
DINNER COST: AEG members, guests: $30
Students: $10
Adult beverages are the responsibility of each individual and may be purchased from the bar.
MEETING SCHEDULE
6:00 to 7:00 PM Social Hour and Section Business
7:00 to 8:00 PM Dinner
8:00 PM Presentation
9:00 PM Closing
RESERVATIONS: To reserve a seat, you should email or contact Steve Mogilnicki by 5 p.m. on Monday April 14, 2008. We can accept cancellations only up until the deadline. Because most of our locations charge us per meal ordered, if you make a reservation and cannot attend will will be required to send you an invoice for the cost of the dinner.