Publications

Storing carbon dioxide in saline formations : analyzing extracted water treatment and use for power plant cooling

Kobos, Peter H.; Roach, Jesse D.; Klise, Geoffrey T.; Krumhansl, James L.; Dewers, Thomas D.; Heath, Jason; Dwyer, Brian P.; Borns, David J.

In an effort to address the potential to scale up of carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) capture and sequestration in the United States saline formations, an assessment model is being developed using a national database and modeling tool. This tool builds upon the existing NatCarb database as well as supplemental geological information to address scale up potential for carbon dioxide storage within these formations. The focus of the assessment model is to specifically address the question, 'Where are opportunities to couple CO{sub 2} storage and extracted water use for existing and expanding power plants, and what are the economic impacts of these systems relative to traditional power systems?' Initial findings indicate that approximately less than 20% of all the existing complete saline formation well data points meet the working criteria for combined CO{sub 2} storage and extracted water treatment systems. The initial results of the analysis indicate that less than 20% of all the existing complete saline formation well data may meet the working depth, salinity and formation intersecting criteria. These results were taken from examining updated NatCarb data. This finding, while just an initial result, suggests that the combined use of saline formations for CO{sub 2} storage and extracted water use may be limited by the selection criteria chosen. A second preliminary finding of the analysis suggests that some of the necessary data required for this analysis is not present in all of the NatCarb records. This type of analysis represents the beginning of the larger, in depth study for all existing coal and natural gas power plants and saline formations in the U.S. for the purpose of potential CO{sub 2} storage and water reuse for supplemental cooling. Additionally, this allows for potential policy insight when understanding the difficult nature of combined potential institutional (regulatory) and physical (engineered geological sequestration and extracted water system) constraints across the United States. Finally, a representative scenario for a 1,800 MW subcritical coal fired power plant (amongst other types including supercritical coal, integrated gasification combined cycle, natural gas turbine and natural gas combined cycle) can look to existing and new carbon capture, transportation, compression and sequestration technologies along with a suite of extracting and treating technologies for water to assess the system's overall physical and economic viability. Thus, this particular plant, with 90% capture, will reduce the net emissions of CO{sub 2} (original less the amount of energy and hence CO{sub 2} emissions required to power the carbon capture water treatment systems) less than 90%, and its water demands will increase by approximately 50%. These systems may increase the plant's LCOE by approximately 50% or more. This representative example suggests that scaling up these CO{sub 2} capture and sequestration technologies to many plants throughout the country could increase the water demands substantially at the regional, and possibly national level. These scenarios for all power plants and saline formations throughout U.S. can incorporate new information as it becomes available for potential new plant build out planning.