The U. S. Geological survey carbon dioxide storage efficiency value methodology: Results and observations

Abstract

In order to complete the 2013 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assessment of carbon dioxide (CO2) storage resources [1], a methodology was needed to determine the CO2 storage efficiency of individual rock strata [2]. The method that was used involved a storage efficiency approximation by MacMinn et al. [3], combined with a brine viscosity model by Mao and Duan [4], and thermal and pressure data from petroleum fields across basins [5]. The resulting efficiencies indicated that both salinity of the pore fluid and the thermal gradient have a strong effect on the amount of CO2 that strata could store.