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The BEST Field Projects Selected to Improve Water Management and Conservation

by Maryann Villavert

Announcements Energy Geosciences Division Geologic Carbon Sequestration Program Geophysics Department Hydrogeology Department
Example of 3D View permeability at TIW-1 relief well for BEST project.

3D view of the injected fluid plume in terms of salinity (× 106 parts per million, ppm) in the Lower Tuscaloosa injection layer, at the end of the selected 18-month pressure management base case scenario. Graph also shows the location of a hypothetical fault as a scenario for pressure management and a cross-sectional view of the layer-cake permeability values in the back. The injected fluid reaches the passive relief well (TIW-1) at about 12 months and then starts migrating down into the deeper Lower Tuscaloosa/Lower Cretaceous layers. Permeability values are given in m2 (~1012 Darcy).

Earlier in June, the Department of Energy announced the selection of two Brine Extraction Storage Test (BEST) field projects that will test enhanced water recovery technologies for their potential to produce useable water from carbon dioxide (CO2) storage sites. The projects are set to receive funding managed by the Department’s National Energy Technology Laboratory’s (NETL) Carbon Storage Program in the amount of approximately $21M, including cost share, for over four years.

Berkeley Lab researchers in the Energy Geosciences Division (EGD) will play a key role in BEST field project “Phase II Field Demonstration at Plant Smith Generating Station, near Panama City, Florida.” They will develop the reservoir and hydromechanics simulation model and algorithms that will be used to optimize well field configurations and testing (water injection/pumping) strategies for the field test. In addition, EGD has a key monitoring program role, and will use electrical geophysical methods and Interferometer Satellite Aperture Radar (InSAR) to track the pressure and plume position in the subsurface.

Plant Smith (image from Gulf Power, a Southern Company)

Plant Smith (image from Gulf Power, a Southern Company)

The BEST field project team (Advanced Resources International, Berkeley Lab, and CH2M), assembled by Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. who will also manage the project, is collaborating with Southern Company and its subsidiary, Gulf Power Company, who are lending invaluable support by providing valuable site information and who has agreed to host the Phase II field demonstration at Plant Smith.

EGD staff involved in the BEST field project include Jens Birkholzer, the project lead, Abdullah Cihan, Jonny Rutqvist, Michael Commer, Quanlin Zhou, Tom Daley, Mike Wilt, and Kurt Nihei.