Chemical Impacts of Potential CO 2 and Brine Leakage on Groundwater Quality with Quantitative Risk Assessment: A Case Study of the Farnsworth Unit

Ting Xiao, Brian McPherson, Richard Esser, Wei Jia, Zhenxue Dai, Shaoping Chu, Feng Pan and Hari Viswanathan
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Ting Xiao: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
Brian McPherson: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
Richard Esser: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
Wei Jia: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
Zhenxue Dai: College of Construction Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130026, China
Shaoping Chu: Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
Feng Pan: Utah Division of Water Resources, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, USA
Hari Viswanathan: Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 24, 1-14

Abstract: Potential leakage of reservoir fluids is considered a key risk factor for geologic CO 2 sequestration (GCS), with concerns of their chemical impacts on the quality of overlying underground sources of drinking water (USDWs). Effective risk assessment provides useful information to guide GCS activities for protecting USDWs. In this study, we present a quantified risk assessment case study of an active commercial-scale CO 2 -enhanced oil recovery (CO 2 -EOR) and sequestration field, the Farnsworth Unit (FWU). Specific objectives of this study include: (1) to quantify potential risks of CO 2 and brine leakage to the overlying USDW quality with response surface methodology (RSM); and (2) to identify water chemistry indicators for early detection criteria. Results suggest that trace metals (e.g., arsenic and selenium) are less likely to become a risk due to their adsorption onto clay minerals; no-impact thresholds based on site monitoring data could be a preferable reference for early groundwater quality evaluation; and pH is suggested as an indicator for early detection of a leakage. This study may provide quantitative insight for monitoring strategies on GCS sites to enhance the safety of long-term CO 2 sequestration.

Keywords: geologic CO 2 sequestration; CO 2 and brine leakage; underground source of drinking water; risk assessment; response surface methodology; early detection criteria (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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