go to top scroll for more

Aquifer Brine - Initial Technical Analysis of Exemplar CCS Stores


Citation Jin, M., Olden, P., Pickup, G. and Mackay, E. Aquifer Brine - Initial Technical Analysis of Exemplar CCS Stores, ETI, 2016. https://doi.org/10.5286/UKERC.EDC.000072.
Cite this using DataCite
Author(s) Jin, M., Olden, P., Pickup, G. and Mackay, E.
Project partner(s) Heriot-Watt University
Publisher ETI
DOI https://doi.org/10.5286/UKERC.EDC.000072
Download AdHoc_CCS_CC2010_1.pdf document type
Abstract This £200,000 nine-month long project, studied the impact of removing brine from undersea stores that could, in future, be used to store captured carbon dioxide. It was carried out by Heriot-Watt University, a founder member of the Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage (SCCS) research partnership, and Element Energy. T2 Petroleum Technology and Durham University also participated in the project. It built on earlier CCS research work and helped develop understanding of potential CO2 stores, such as depleted oil and gas reservoirs or saline aquifers, located beneath UK waters. It also helped to build confidence among future operators and investors for their operation. Reducing costs and minimising risks is crucial if CCS is to play a long-term role in decarbonising the UK’s future energy system.

This report aims to address whether or not there is potential to significantly increase CO2 storage capacity, and thereby reduce overall cost of storage, by producing brine through dedicated production wells from target storage formations. Brine production is proposed as a method to manage pressure in storage sites, as a corollary to water injection during hydrocarbon extraction. In the case of CO2 storage, the production of water creates voidage to increase storage capacity and reduce the extent of pressure increase due to CO2 injection, and hence reduce the risk of caprock failure, fault reactivation and induced seismicity; additionally, it reduces the energy available to drive fluids through legacy well paths and other potential seep features. Spatially the reduction in the extent of the pressure plume reduces the affected area which can reduce the area of potential drilling interference, the number of impacted legacy wells, and the area of investigation for monitoring where brine movement is a concern. In this report five systems are considered: the Forties Aquifer, the Bunter Aquifer, the depleted Hamilton gas field, a producing North Sea oil field, and a synthetic tilted aquifer. The well counts, the period and the rate of brine production are data that are supplied for economic analysis to determine whether or not the process is a viable means of increasing storage capacity and reducing overall costs
Associated Project(s) ETI-CC2010: Impact of Brine Production on Aquifer Storage
Associated Dataset(s) No associated datasets
Associated Publication(s)

Aquifer Brine - Brine production cost-benefit analysis tool documentation and draft CBA results

Aquifer Brine - Brine production cost-benefit analysis tool documentation and draft CBA results - updated final report

Aquifer Brine - Impact of Brine Production on Aquifer Storage

Impact of Brine Production on Aquifer Storage - Request for Proposal

Infographic - the Evidence for deploying Bioenergy with CCS (BECCS) in the UK