The SECARB Anthropogenic Test: The First U.S. Integrated Capture, Transportation and Storage Test

THE SECARB ANTHROPOGENIC TEST: 

The First U.S. Integrated Capture, Transportation and Storage Test

George Koperna, Jr .Advanced Resources International, Arlington, VA

and

Vello Kuuskraa and David Riestenberg, Advanced Resources International, Arlington, VA

Richard Rhudy and Robert Trautz, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA

Dr. Jerry Hill, Southern States Energy Board, Norcross, GA

Dr. Richard Esposito, Southern Company, Birmingham, AL

Introduction

            The United States Department of Energy (DOE) seeks to validate the feasibility of injecting, storing and monitoring CO₂ in the Earth's subsurface (geologic sequestration) in the near-term as an approach to mitigate atmospheric emissions of CO₂.   In an effort to “promote the development of a framework and the infrastructure necessary for the validation and deployment of carbon sequestration technologies,” DOE established seven regional carbon sequestration partnerships (RCSPs), representing 40 States, 3 Indian Nations, 4 Canadian Provinces and over 150 organizations.  The Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (SECARB), whose lead organization is the Southern States Energy Board (SSEB), represents 13 States within the south eastern United States of America (USA), and includes the core operating area of Southern Company (Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and the Florida Panhandle; Figure 1).

                In the southeastern USA, Advanced Resources International (ARI), in partnership with the SSEB, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and Southern Company, is participating in the DOE-RCSP Program, representing the SECARB.  As a first field demonstration in this program, a 3,000 tonne pilot CO₂ injection into a saline reservoir was performed in 2008 at Mississippi Power Company's Plant Daniel generation facility, located in southeast Mississippi.  This project enabled the project team to gain valuable experience with site characterization, permitting, outreach and education, and the injection and monitoring of CO₂ into a saline reservoir.

           

            Two SECARB Phase III projects are now underway, the first being the Early Test, which is a large volume injection test utilizing natural CO₂ (associated with an enhanced-oil-recovery flood) located at the Cranfield oilfield in Mississippi. The second SECARB Phase III project (the Anthropogenic Test), which is the focus of this paper, is a demonstration of integrated deployment of CO₂ capture, transport, and geologic storage technology for an existing pulverized coal-fired power plant. 

           

             Anthropogenic Test is an integral component of a plan by Atlanta-based Southern Company, and its subsidiary, Birmingham-based Alabama Power to demonstrate CO₂ capture, transport and storage technology.  The capture component of the test takes place at the James M. Barry Electric Generating Plant (Plant Barry) in Bucks, Alabama. The capture facility, equivalent to 25 MW, will utilize post-combustion capture technology licensed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America.  CO₂ emissions captured at the plant will be transported by pipeline for underground storage in a deep, saline geologic formation within the Citronelle Dome located in Mobile County, Alabama (Figure 1). 

           

            Starting in July 2011, up to 500 tonnes of CO₂ per day will be captured and transported over ten miles to the storage site for injection and subsurface storage.  These transportation and injection operations will continue through 2014, with subsurface monitoring deployed through 2017 in order to track plume movement in the deep subsurface.  This project will be one of the first and the largest fully-integrated coal-fired CCS projects in the USA.  This paper will discuss the results to date, including permitting efforts, geologic data collection and analysis as well as detailed reservoir modeling of the storage site, framing the discussion in terms of the overall goals of the project.