Monitoring CO2 migration in an injection well: evidence from MovECBM

Carbon dioxide (CO2) geological storage relies on safe, long-term injection of large quantities of CO2 in underground porous rocks. Wells, whether they are the conduit of the pumped fluid or are exposed to CO2 in the storage reservoir (observation and old wells) are man-made disturbances to the geological storage complex, and are thus viewed by some as a possible risk factor to the containment of the injected CO2. Evidence gathered during the MovECBM project indicates that migration of small quantities of CO2 happened during injection in a coal seam in Southwest Poland. The evidence, gathered from casing and cement logging as well as soil gas monitoring over a 3-year period, was coupled with laboratory testing and extensive modeling of the chemo-mechanical behavior of cement and steel to determine if CO2 migration might have been responsible of the observed behavior. The three lines of evidence were: the detection of very small CO2 fluxes, coupled with less controversial helium concentration in soil; the occurrence of a thin pathway at the interface between cement and casing; and the change in mechanical properties of cement, suggestive of partial carbonation. Whereas the observations suggest that limited CO2 migration might have happened in the well, they are by no means proof that the migration did happen. Nonetheless, the integration of measurement and modeling yields important lessons for wellbore monitoring. First, it puts a probable ceiling on the order of magnitude of expected leaks from reasonably well-cemented wells at around 100 metric tons per year (less than 0.05% of the injected mass in a well like Sleipner or In Salah). It also suggests that cement may be a very effective leak detector: exposure to CO2 modifies its mechanical properties, which in turn can be detected using cement evaluation logs.