Establishing a Research Observatory to unlock European Coal seams for Carbon dioxide Storage
The main objective of the ROCCS project is to demonstrate the potential benefits of enlarging the coal-CO2 contact area for enhancing CO2 storage potential using a horizontal well configuration. Therefore, a test facility is being established at an experimental mine. CO2 injection is accompanied by laboratory tests, numerical simulations and an extensive environmental monitoring programme, which will provide insights into the subsurface gas flow regime. Furthermore, the conception and techno-economic assessment of a possible commercial scale CO2 storage are carried out in order to evaluate the potential and risks of this engineering practice.
Within the project, the Fluid Systems Modelling Section is responsible for the techno-economic assessment as well as optimisation of operational costs, deducing economical risks and estimating costs bandwidths for the prevention of potential environmental impacts. Moreover, coupled hydromechanical simulations are elaborated to quantify induced stress changes with regard to potential reactivation of present geological weakness zones in the vicinity of the target coal seams to assess geological risks.
Project runtime: 1/9/2020-30/8/2023
Project Partner:
- Cardiff University (UK, Coordinator)
- GIG Central Mining Institute (Poland)
- GFZ Potsdam, Fluid Systems Modelling
- PGG S.A. (Poland)
Funding:
This project is funded by the European Union Research Fund for Coal and Steel (EU-RFCS) under the grant agreement No 899336.
