Duration - 01/01/2012 - 31/12/2015
PhD student - Ioannis Tsiantis
Funding - PhD funded by ENS (Earth and Natural Sciences) PhD Programme, PRTLI Cycle 5.
Project description
Sherwood sandstone sites comprise about half the higher certainty 'Effective' sites for Irish CO2 storage
in saline aquifers and the majority of lower certainty 'Theoretical' ones. Faults are ubiquitous within
the Sherwood sandstone, retard seawater incursion into this important groundwater aquifer in the UK and
are recognised as significant production heterogeneities in Sherwood sandstone hydrocarbon reservoirs.
Faults therefore, are clearly a risk to Sherwood sandstone CCS projects, and the objectives of this PhD
are to assess the importance of these risks. There are two principal fault-related risks. The first is the
extent to which intra-reservoir faults impede flow of CO2 across them and therefore to the practical management
of a sequestration programme. Models of idealised faulted Sherwood sandstone aquifers covering the range of
conditions likely to be encountered in Irish sites will be built, and the risk analysed through numerical
flow simulation. A second risk relates to seal integrity, and therefore to capillary CO2 leakage. This will
be assessed using analytical considerations of the pressures and fluid saturations experienced adjacent to
and within site-bounding faults during a sequestration programme. Though focused on Irish sites the results
will be of general relevance. The research is highly cross-disciplinary between geology and reservoir engineering,
and the ideal applicant will be numerate and have had some exposure to these, or to other closely allied, disciplines.
Contact: Tom Manzocchi
Tel: +353 1 716 2605
EMAIL