Alberta Research Council (ARC) Enhanced Coalbed Methane (ECBM) Recovery Project in Alberta, Canada Bill Gunter Alberta Research Council (ARC) Inc. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
CBM Resources of Western Canada 1. Rocky mountain foothills region 2. Plains region 200 Tcf 68 Tcf CBM Resources In-Place (CGPC 1997) Remaining Established Conventional Gas Reserves in 1995
Coalbed Methane Recovery in Canada At the present time, no large-scale commercial recovery projects In general, Alberta coals have very low permeability compared to San Juan Basin coals Gas production rates are low Needs enhanced coalbed methane (ECBM) recovery technology to improve to economical recovery rates
ARC ECBM Recovery Project PHASES YEAR I 1997 II 1998 III-A 1999 III-A 2001 III-B 2002 Proof of Concept for Alberta Single Well CO 2 Micro-Pilot Single Well Flue Gas Micro-Pilot Drill Shallow Coals <500 meters Multi-Well Enhanced CBM Production Pilots In Deep Coals >1000 meters III-B 1998 -- 2005 2005 Novel CO 2 Sources Targeting of Best CBM Reservoirs
Member Companies Phase III Participants Air Liquide Canada Alberta Geological Survey Alberta Innovation and Science (ASRA) BJ Service Company Canada BP Amoco Corporation Burlington Resources (U.S.A.) Canadian Climate Change Action Fund CSIRO Petroleum (Australia) Environment Canada (PERD) EPCOR Utilities Inc. Gas Technology Institute (U.S.A.) Geological Survey of Canada Geotechnical Engineering, University of Alberta Gulf Canada Resources Ltd. Husky Energy Inc. IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme (U.K.) MGV Energy Inc. Exxonmobil Canada Netherlands Institute of Applied Geosicence TNO (The Netherlands) PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd. Saskatchewan Energy & Mines Sproule International Suncor Energy Inc. Tesseract Corporation (U.S.A.) TransAlta Utilities TransCanada Pipelines Ltd. United Kingdom Department of Trade and Industry (U.K.) United States Department of Energy (U.S.A.)
ARC Micro-Pilot Goals Accurate measurement of injection and production behavior for single well Estimate reservoir properties and sorption behavior Calibrate numerical models based on history matching of field data Forecast expanded pilot or full-field development production
Single Well Micro-Pilot Tests Requirements Injection/production data Gas volumes & composition Pressure data Bottom-hole transducers Surface monitoring Well tests Production, injection, shut-in
Single Well Micro-Pilot Tests
Single Well CO 2 Injection Test Downhole P/T Monitoring
Single Well CO 2 Injection Test CO 2 Compressor CO 2 Tank & Pump Trucks
Single Well CO 2 Injection Test Gas Production Monitoring CO 2 Injection
Single Well Flue Gas Injection Test Drilling New Well
Single Well Flue Gas Injection Test Conventional - Coring Bit: ARC 325 Face Discharge
Single Well Flue Gas Injection Test Core Sampling
Single Well Flue Gas Injection Test Core Sampling
Single Well Flue Gas Injection Test On-Site Core Sample Gas Desorption Measurements Heated Baths Volumetric Displacement Measurement Apparatus
Single Well Flue Gas Injection Test Well Stimulation
Single Well Flue Gas Injection Test Flue Gas Generation Unit Flue Gas Injection
Single Well Flue Gas Injection Test Flue Gas Generator Components Engine Catalytic Converter Screw Compressor Reciprocating Compressor
Single Well Flue Gas Injection Test Typical Enhanced CBM Pilot Site Test Separator Tank Farm Wellhead Instrument Trailer
Alberta Research Council Coalbed Methane CO 2 Project Flue Gas Composition versus Reservoir Response Four Micro-pilot tests: Fenn-Big Valley Site 100% N 2 53% N 2, 47% CO 2 87% N 2, 13% CO 2 100% CO 2 Flue Gas Composition versus Cost: Surface Facility Model
Expected Problems Limited CO 2 injectivity due to swelling Reduced effective permeability to gas Increasing with continued injection Inability to produce after injection
CO 2 Micro-Pilot Test Fenn Big Valley 4A-23-36-20 W4M (FVB 4A) CH 4 Production/Build-up Test 1 st CO 2 Injection/Falloff Test Symbols: Field Curves: Numerical 2 nd CO 2 Injection/Falloff Test Final Production Test 2 nd Production Test 220 Traditional well test analysis also performed
N 2 /Flue Gas Micro-Pilot Tests Fenn Big Valley 05-23-36-20 W4M (FVB I#2) N 2 /O 2 Injection/Falloff Test N 2 /CO 2 Injection/Falloff Test Symbols: Field Curves: Numerical 2 nd Water Injection Test Final Production Test 2 nd Production Test 180 Traditional well test analysis also performed
Flue Gas Micro-Pilot Test Fenn Big Valley 4A-23-36-20 W4M (FVB 4A) Flue Gas Injection/Falloff Test Symbols: Field Curves: Numerical Production Test 110 Traditional well test analysis also performed
Single Well Micro-Pilot Tests Summary All single well micro-pilot tests were successful Coal characterization completed CO 2 sequestration in coalbed is feasible High quality data base available for numerical model validation Injection & production rates Composition vs. time Bottom-hole pressure & temperature
Prediction of Commercial-Scale 5-Spot Pattern Performance
Forecast Full-Field Development Production Numerical Modelling - 5-Spot Pattern 1/4 of 5-Spot Pattern P P I I P P 402.34 m P
Forecast Full-Field Development Production Numerical Modelling - 5-Spot Pattern P P I P P
Forecast Full-Field Development Production Numerical Modelling - 5-Spot Pattern CO 2 Injection CO 2 /N 2 Content 1 N 2 Injection 0 After 1 year After 3 years After 5 years After 7 years 1/4 of 5-Spot Pattern Constant Injection Rate
Flue Gas Capturing CO 2 from Flue Gas Separation Compression Pipelining $ 30-50/t $ 8-10/t $ 0.7 4/t Per 100 km $20/t? Injection $ 2-8/t Geological Formations
Economics of CO 2 Storage from Flue Gas CO 2 Credit Required, $/tonne avoided CO 2 Economics of CO 2 Storage From Flue Gas 50 40 30 1.50 Gas Price ($/MCF) 20 10 2.00 0-10 50 60 3.00 70 80 90 100-20 Flue Gas Composition, % CO 2-30 -40-50 4.00-60 -70 Constant constant injection pressure pressure 10 MPa 10 MPa
Future Goals Describe Alberta s CBM and unconventional gas resources Improve reservoir simulator for ECBM Continue to measure CBM reservoir response to CO 2 -enriched flue gas injection Continue to quantify costs of CO 2 -enrichment of industrial CO 2 waste streams and ECBM production Demonstrations consisting of multi-well CO 2 - ECBM pilots in Alberta
Economics Phase IV (ECBM) Laboratory Integrated CO 2 Waste Streams and CBM Reservoirs Numerical Simulation Micro-Pilots Multi-Well Pilots Commercialization
A Life-Cycle Approach to Production of Fossil Energy Flue Gas CO2 N 2 Flue Gas CO 2 Electricity Plant Separation N 2 Hydrogen Plant Coal Injection Deep Coal bed CO 2 CH 4 CH 4 Enhanced coalbed methane (ECBM) recovery Sequestration of CO 2
Sustainable Development of Coalbed Methane - A Life-Cycle Approach to Production of Fossil Energy: Phase IV Matching of CBM Reservoirs to Novel CO 2 Surface Processes 1. Fermentation Alberta Industrial Site 2. Fertilizer Alberta Industrial Site 3. Acid Gas Gas Plant 4. Landfill CAFI Cryogenic 5. Oxy Fuel a) NRCAN b) Clean Energy Systems 6. Post Combustion Northlands Energy Gas Engine 7. Pre Combustion H 2 Plants? 8. Chemical Looping Not available?
Biogenic Methane Production and CO 2 Sequestration Microbial-directed conversion of CO 2 to CH 4 Either by indigenous or introduced microorganisms Closed-loop fossil fuel system Sustainable methane economy with near zero net CO 2 emissions CO 2 CH 4 Coalbed Displace CH 4 CO 2 Microbial Conversion CH 4 H 2