Carbon Capture Wells – The same, but different

With Michael Byrne, Elemental Energies

Abstract

This lecture will introduce carbon capture wells and highlight some of the unique challenges faced with constructing these wells. The similarities with conventional oil, gas and water wells will be explored and the differences will be explained. The lecture will touch on well integrity, injectivity challenges, chemical processes and some innovative modelling and testing approaches that can help in the design of CO2 injection wells. The differences between different CO2 store types will be explained and the different challenges faced in saline aquifer and depleted hydrocarbon stores explored. The lecture will explain how conventional oil and gas well design can transition to CO2 injection well design and the key role well engineers, production technologists, production chemists and near wellbore flow specialists need to play as part of a multidisciplinary approach to achieving CO2 injection well objectives. A key take away from the lecture will be that many of the existing oil and gas well design and construction skills are required for CO2 injection wells, but there are additional challenges to consider, challenges that we as an industry are well equipped to overcome.

Biography

Michael is an experienced industry professional and leader with over 35 years’ experience. A graduate of University College Dublin, Michael served on the API committee which developed procedures for return permeability testing. He has authored many technical publications on formation damage and numerical well modelling having developed procedures for modelling flow in wells and reservoirs using computational fluid dynamics. Michael served as an SPE distinguished lecturer in 2009-2010 and again in 2014-2015 and has presented technical papers and training courses globally. More recently Michael has worked in CO2 storage and has contributed to well design in several CO2 stores.