Concurrent challenges in practical operations and modeling of geological carbon-dioxide sequestration: Review of the Gorgon project and FluidFlower benchmark study
Ruud Weijermars
Abstract
This study aims to serve as a reality check on whether the present-day (1) technology readiness level, and (2) storage capacity modeling, are adequate to claim that geological carbon-dioxide sequestration (GCS) projects are on a trajectory to help save the world from becoming a boiling greenhouse. The storage of CO 2 in subsurface formations is technically feasible, but serious challenges still arise when large quantities of CO 2 are injected. For example, important lessons can be gleaned from the world's largest CO 2 -sequestration project at the Gorgon Field (Australia), which has run into a series of technical setbacks and now is over a decade behind schedule. Similarly, modeling of CO 2 -fluid migration in the subsurface, which is at the basis of any practical GCS-project design-solution, remains challenging, as appears from careful analysis of a recent benchmark study effort by nine of the world's leading modeling groups. The limited transferability of FluidFlower modeling benchmark results and the technical challenges encountered in the Gorgon GCS project are highlighted. From the analysis, concurrent bottlenecks in technical operations and modeling capacity are identified, and suggestions are made for possible pathways to overcome these challenges. • This study serves as a reality check on GCS, revealing bottlenecks in technical operations and modeling capacity for effective global warming mitigation. • The Gorgon Project, the world's largest CO 2 -sequestration effort, faces significant delays, highlighting practical challenges in large-scale CO 2 injection and storage. • The review argues for the dominance of injection-driven pressure diffusion over viscous fingering in CO 2 -sequestration processes. • Global GCS reserves capacity needs to be expanded if it needs to is not to store a significant portion of annual excess CO 2 emissions.