Reactive, Multi-phase Behavior of CO2
in Saline Aquifers beneath the Colorado Plateau

"To stabilize and ultimately reduce concentrations of this greenhouse gas (CO2),
it will be necessary to employ carbon sequestration -
carbon capture, separation and storage or reuse."
from Department of Energy website

Project Information

Major occurrences of known gas fields having high concentrations of CO2. Red dots are the point sources of CO2 emissions from power plants with dots sized according to the amount of annual CO2 emissions (in million metric tons).
Click here to enlarge.

The Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) funded a project titled “Reactive, Multi-phase Behavior of CO2 in Saline Aquifers beneath the Colorado Plateau” for a three-year period beginning August 13, 2000.

This project involves three research organizations: the Utah Geological Survey (UGS), the Energy and Geoscience Institute at the University of Utah (EGI), and Industrial Research Limited from New Zealand (IRL). The Principal Investigators are Rick Allis (UGS), Joe Moore (EGI) and Stephen White (IRL).

In additional to the funding from NETL, additional funding is being contributed by the UGS and the Utah Energy Office. Total funding for this project is $428,000.

• Background: DOE Carbon Sequestration Research Initiatives
• Proposal Abstract
• Project Overview

Presentations

Why Modelers Need to Look at the Rocks! - Examples from Greater Aneth Field, Paradox Basin, Utah

Thomas C. Chidsey, Jr., David E. Eby, Michael D. Laine, and Thomas Dempster
Presented at the American Association of Petroleum Geologists-Rocky Mountain Section Meeting, Snowbird, Utah, October 9, 2007.

• Poster (pdf - 4MB)

Aneth oil field, southeastern Utah: Demonstration site for geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide

Thomas C. Chidsey, Jr., and Richard G. Allis, Utah Geological Survey
Stephen E. Malkewicz, Resolute Natural Resources, Denver
Wilson Groen, Navajo Nation Oil & Gas Company, Inc., Arizona
Brian McPherson and Jason Heath, New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology
Presented at the 5th Annual Conference on Carbon Capture & Sequestration, Alexandria, Virginia, 2006.

• Poster Panel A (pdf - 2.9MB)
• Poster Panel B (pdf - 1.7MB)
• Poster Panel C (pdf - 4MB)

Implications of results from CO2 flux surveys over known CO2 systems for long-term monitoring

Rick Allis, Tom Chidsey, Craig Morgan, and Kevin McClure, Utah Geological Survey
Joe Moore, Energy & Geoscience Institute, Univ. of Utah
Deborah Bergfeld, U.S.G.S.
Jason Heath and Brian McPherson, New Mexico Tech.
Presented at the Fourth Annual Conference on Carbon Capture & Sequestration, Alexandria, Virginia, 2005.

• PowerPoint (ppt - 10MB)
• Paper (pdf - 1.5MB)

Natural CO2 Reservoirs on the Colorado Plateau & Southern Rocky Mountains: Candidates for CO2 Sequestration

Rick Allis, Thomas C. Chidsey, Jr., Wally Gwynn, and Craig D. Morgan, UGS
S. White, Industrial Research Ltd
M. Adams and J. Moore, Energy and Geoscience Institute, University of Utah

• Poster (pdf - 1MB)

Publications

• CO2 injection potential beneath large power plants in the Colorado Plateau-Southern Rocky Mountain region, USA. (pdf - 3MB) R.G. Allis, T.C. Chidsey, C. Morgan, J. Moore, S. White, Second Annual Conference on Carbon Sequestration, NETL Proceedings, May 5-8, 2003, Alexandria, Virginia, CD-Rom, pp. 25.

• Investigations of CO2 Mobility in Natural Reservoirs Beneath the Colorado Plateau and Southern Rocky Mountains. (pdf - 6MB) J. Moore, R. Allis, S. Lutz, M. Adams, Second Annual Conference on Carbon Sequestration, NETL Proceedings, May 5-8, 2003, Alexandria, Virginia, CD-Rom, pp. 22.

• Injection of CO2 into an Unconfined Aquifer Located beneath the Colorado, Central Utah, USA. (pdf - 2MB) S.P. White, R.G. Allis, J. Moore, T.Chidsey, C.Morgan, W. Gwynn, M.Adams. Second Annual Conference on Carbon Sequestration, NETL Proceedings, May 5-8, 2003, Alexandria, Virginia, CD-Rom, pp. 15.

• Natural CO2 Reservoirs on the Colorado Plateau and Southern Rocky Mountains, USA, A Numerical Model. (pdf - 0.5MB) White, S., Allis, R., Moore , J., Chidsey, T., Morgan, C., Gwynn, W.and Adams, M., 2002. Proc. Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies 6th Conference, Kyoto, Japan Oct. 2002, pp. 6.

• Natural CO2 Reservoirs on the Colorado Plateau and Southern Rocky Mountains: Candidates for CO2 Sequestration. (pdf - 0.2MB) Allis, R., White, S., Chidsey, T., Gwynn, W., Morgan, C., Adams, M., Moore, J., 2001., Proceedings of the First National Conference on Carbon Sequestration, Washington DC, May 2001, pp. 19.

Contact

For more information contact Rick Allis, 801-537-3301; email rickallis@utah.gov or Joe Moore, 801-585-6931; email j.moore@egi.utah.edu.