CO2-TRAP
Development and Evaluation of Innovative Strategies for Mineral and Physical Trapping of CO2 in Geological Formations and of Long-Term Cap Rock Integrity
Various available options for the sequestration of CO2 in the subsurface have been proposed and discussed. A possible means of reducing CO2 emissions is injection into structural reservoirs in deep, permeable geologic formations. Such formations could include aquifers, coal seams, and oil and gas fields. Both, on the international and national level significant progress has been accomplished on this issue. Yet there is a continued need and also still unexploited potential for a judicious combination of carefully designed laboratory experiments and numerical simulations of the physical and chemical processes. The aim of the CO2Trap project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in the framework of the GEOTECHNOLOGIEN special program “Investigation, Use and Protection of the Underground”, is to develop, study, and evaluate two alternative approaches for the subsurface deposition of CO2: ·Precipitation of aqueous CO2 as calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in formations containing calcium sulphates (CaSO4) and feldspars (Technology I). ·Sorption of CO2 on (i) residual coal and (ii) waste coal dust or sludge from coal processing plants in abandoned coal mines (Technology II). The third sub-project covers a comprehensive aspect relevant for all options of underground storage of CO2 and is entitled: ·Long-term effects of supercritical CO2 gas and dissolved aqueous CO2 on the sealing properties of typical cap rocks above potential CO2 storage formations (Sealing efficiency).
Project co-ordination:
Prof. Clauser
Lehr und Forschungsgebiet Angewandte Geophysik
RWTH Aachen
Partners:
RWTH Aachen
Universität Bayreuth
Universität Stuttgart
RWE-Dea AG, Hamburg
RWE Power AG, Köln
Saar Energie GmbH, Saarbrücken
Deutsche Steinkohle AG, Herne
Deutsche Montan Technologie, Essen
