Integrated reservoir monitoring at the Illinois Basin – Decatur Project

The Illinois Basin - Decatur Project (IBDP), a United States Department of Energy funded project, is a fully integrated industrial carbon capture and storage (CCS) project where carbon dioxide (CO₂) is captured from the Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) corn processing plant at the in Decatur, Illinois, USA. The captured CO₂ is dehydrated, compressed, and then injected deep into the Mt. Simon Formation. IBDP commenced injection in November 2011 and has a goal of injecting one million metric tonnes of CO₂ into the lower Mt. Simon Sandstone over a three-year period. A range of monitoring, verification, and accounting (MVA) tools are being used to monitor the CO₂ plume development in the deep subsurface. These monitoring tools include timelapse RST∗ reservoir saturation tool logging in the project wells, continuous pressure and temperature measurements from multiple levels above, within, and below the storage formation, deep fluid sampling with associated geochemical analysis, time-lapse threedimensional (3D) vertical seismic profile (VSP) surveys, and microseismic monitoring. MVA data has been used to quantitatively and qualitatively calibrate the reservoir simulations. As a result, the project now has robust, history-matched reservoir simulations that predict CO₂ and pressure plume development over time. MVA data and modelling results indicate that the CO₂ plume has spread within a thin, high permeability zone in the lower Mt. Simon Sandstone and that a low permeability zone in the upper part of the lower Mt. Simon Sandstone is currently acting as an effective baffle to CO₂ migration and pressure transmission above 2,094 m (6,870 ft). Lessons learned over the course of IBDP are being applied to the adjacent Illinois Industrial CCS Project.