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Alberta Research Council Enhanced Coalbed Methane Recovery Project in ,

Brent Lakeman Program Leader, Management Alberta Research Council Inc. CBM Resources

1. 2. region

200 Tcf

68 Tcf

CBM Remaining Resources Established In-Place Conventional (CGPC 1997) Gas Reserves in 1995 Background

• Alberta has an abundant CBM resource • Little commercial production of CBM in Canada to date due to low permeabilities encountered • Compared to EOR, ECBM does not require

pure CO2

• Injection of CO2-rich gases into CBM could significantly enhance

recovery while trapping CO2 • ECBM technology is at an embryonic stage of development but shows commercial potential Coalbed Methane Recovery in Canada • At the present time, few large-scale commercial recovery projects • In general, Alberta coals have very low permeability compared to San Juan Basin coals • Gas production rates are low • Needs enhanced coalbed methane (ECBM) recovery technology to improve to economical recovery rates Overall Objectives of Project

•Use CO2 to enhance coalbed methane (CBM) recovery factors and production rates in Alberta, Canada • Reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by subsurface injection (storage) of CO2 into coalbeds Alberta Research Council (ARC) ECBM Recovery Project

Flue Gas CO2 N2

N2 Separation

CH4 to Injection Sales Coal Green Power Plant

Deep Coalbed CO2 CH4 CH4 CH4 • Enhanced coalbed methane (ECBM) recovery

• Sequestration of CO2 Current Participants

• Air Liquide Canada • Coal Energy Center • Alberta Geological Survey • Institute of Applied • Alberta Energy Research Institute Geosicence (TNO) (AERI) • Industry and •BP Resources • ConocoPhillips • Sproule International • Dow Chemical • Inc. • Environment Canada • Tesseract Corporation (U.S.A.) • Geological Survey of Canada • Department of Trade • IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D and Industry Programme • Department of Energy • Japan Coal Energy Center • • Micro-Pilot Fenn Big Valley, (, Canada)

T37

Test Site

T36

Red Deer T35

Calgary

R22 R21 R20W4 Fenn Big Valley Micro-Pilot Goals

• Accurate measurement of injection and production behavior for single well • Estimate properties and sorption behavior • Calibrate numerical models based on history matching of field data • Forecast expanded pilot or full- field development production Single Well CO2 Injection Test

Downhole P/T Monitoring Single Well CO2 Injection Test

Gas Production Monitoring

CO2 Injection Micro-Pilot Test Summary

• All single well micro-pilot tests were successful • Coal characterization completed

•CO2 sequestration in coalbed is feasible • High quality data base available for numerical model validation – Injection & production rates – Composition vs. time – Bottom-hole pressure & temperature Phase IV Tasks

• Integrate CO2 waste stream sources with potential ECBM reservoirs • Laboratory testing of CBM reservoir response to sorption/desorption process of gaseous waste streams • Improvement of ECBM numerical reservoir simulators through history matching and their use for prediction • Economic evaluation of novel surface and ECBM recovery technologies to optimize the ECBM process for low permeability reservoirs Phase IV: Matching Sources and Sinks

1 Landfill Gas

2 Ethanol Plant

3 3 Ethane Plant, Ethylene 4 1 Oxide Plant, Refinery, 7 Ammonia Plant, Cogeneration Plant

2 6 4 Coal-Fired Power Plant

5 5 Coal-Fired Power Plant

6 Plant

7 Acid Gas Plant Alberta ECBM Phase IV

P P

• Identifying optimum I PP mixture of CO2 and N2 and other waste gas streams for enhanced CBM production Forecast Full-Field Development Production Numerical Modelling - 5-Spot Pattern

CO /N Content CO2 Injection 2 2 1

0

N2 Injection

After 1 After 3 After 5 years After 7 years

1/4 of 5-Spot Pattern Constant Injection Rate CO2-ECBM Phase V Objectives

1. To execute CO2-ECBM multi-well pilots in the Ardley, Horseshoe Note: this project and Mannville coals interface with another project aimed 2. Run micro-pilots to optimize design at Enhancing for multi-well pilot Permeability in Tight Reservoirs 3. Methodologies and theory

developed for exploitation of CO2 storage and enhanced methane production Phase V Current Status

• Quantify costs of CO2-enrichment of industrial CO2 waste streams • 5-spot CO2-ECBM pilot in Alberta – Working with operator with established Edmonton production

• Suncor CO2 Storage and Enhanced Methane Production (CSEMP) project – Selection of 2 other multi-well pilot sites Goals

• Determine baseline production of CBM from Pilot Phases: coals at the pilot location

•Pilot and operational •Store CO2 within coal strata and measure monitoring storage effects in the coal • Determine the effect of CO2 injection and •Verification storage on CBM production monitoring • Assess economic of the collection of CO2 and injection into coals as a long-term •Environmental storage method for GHG emission reduction monitoring • Monitor and trace the path of CO2 movement by geochemical and geophysical methods Canada ECBM Projects in Alberta

PHASES YEAR Proof of Concept I 1997 for Alberta In Deep Single Well II 1998 Mannville CO Micro-Pilot 2 Coals Single Well IIIA 1999 - 2001 > 1000 Flue Gas Micro-Pilots meters Matching CBM Resources IV 2002 - 2005 with CO2 Sources

CO Sources: CO2 Sources: 2 •Ethanol Plant •Land Fill •Fertilizer •Gas Plant V 2002 - 2007 Three-Well CO Pilot 2 •Coal Fired Utility Ardley Coal •Portable Novel < 500 meters •Hydrogen Plant

Longer-Term Acid Gas Injection & Methanogenesis Learnings

• Even in tight reservoirs, continuous CO2 injection is possible – Injectivity declines but can still inject • Significant enhanced CBM production is predicted

• Injected CO2 remains in the reservoir while increasing the sweep efficiency