Earth, Atmosphere & Environment Sciences
Title : | Enhancing Utilization and Storage of Anthropogenic CO₂ in Candidate Oil Reservoirs of Assam Shelf Basin |
Area of research : | Earth, Atmosphere & Environment Sciences |
Focus area : | Carbon Capture and Storage, Petroleum Engineering |
Principal Investigator : | Dr. Ranjan Phukan, Dibrugarh University, Assam |
Timeline Start Year : | 2023 |
Timeline End Year : | 2026 |
Contact info : | r.phukan@dibru.ac.in |
Details
Executive Summary : | This project has been designed to align its objectives with the Government of India (GoI) vision ‘Panchamrita’ to reduce carbon emissions by one billion tonnes till 2030 and achieve the target of Net Zero by the year 2070. Besides, the proposed project also considers GoI’s Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for North-East India for doubling oil production by 2030. To realize such envisions, an attempt will be made through this project work to study the prospect of reducing the CO2 emissions of a petrochemical plant through the utilization and storage of the produced CO2 (currently vented into the atmosphere). The concept is to road transport the vented CO2 gas from the source (petrochemical plant) to the sink (nearby oilfields), where it will be injected into prospective reservoirs of Assam Shelf oilfields for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and sequestration. The water alternating gas/CO2 (WAG) injection appears to be the most rational approach to accomplish the objectives. WAG is the technology of choice for CO2 gas mobility control, which facilitates higher oil recovery and CO2 storage. The primary objectives of this project work are to identify prospective reservoirs of Assam Shelf oilfields for CO2 utilization and storage (CUS), and to study the viability of injecting anthropogenic CO2 in such reservoirs for maximizing oil recovery and sequestration. To accomplish these aims, the initial studies will focus on establishing screening criteria for CO2 flooding intended for combined EOR and sequestration, and selecting candidates reservoirs of Assam Shelf oilfields based on their reservoir rock and fluid properties. Further, a complete set of experimental investigations will be performed to estimate the oil recovery and CO2 storage potential of WAG injection and understand the CO2 trapping/storage mechanisms. In addition, research will be targeted to formulate a novel CO2-WAG injection regime to develop a more competent CUS method. Finally, reservoir simulation studies of the CO2-WAG process will be conducted to obtain better insights into the CUS process and for possible scaling up into field-scale implementation. It is anticipated that the project work will lead to developing a worldwide CUS database and new screening criteria for CUS projects. Thus, prospective reservoirs for CO2-CUS projects could be identified. Additional outcomes of the research work will be the formulation of a competent CO2-WAG injection pattern with an advanced injected water system capable of maximizing both oil recovery and CO2 storage. Finally, developing an effective simulation approach will assist in modeling the CO2-WAG process for injection-production forecasting and ascertaining sequestration potential. Thus, the proposed work is believed to deepen the current understanding of the WAG-CUS process, which can provide useful guidelines and technological solutions to industries in preparing a road map for the effective utilization of anthropogenic CO2. |
Co-PI: | Dr. Bhaskar Jyoti Saikia, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh, Assam-786004 |
Total Budget (INR): | 23,97,010 |
Organizations involved