The Energy Technologies Institute said Wednesday it will invest £200,000 in a nine-month project to study the effects of removing brine from undersea stores that could in the future be used for carbon storage. The study will be conducted by Heriot-Watt University in partnership with Element Energy, T2 Petroleum Technology, and Durham University.
“This latest ETI project will build on earlier CCS research work and help develop understanding of the potential CO2 stores, such as depleted oil and gas reservoirs or saline aquifers, located beneath UK waters. It will also help to build confidence among future operators and investors for their operation,” the ETI release explains.
Brine management has been used within the oil and gas industry to control reservoir pressure and fluid flow. Brine production is a feature of every oil and gas development, according to the release. “More brine than oil has been produced from North Sea oil reservoirs. This brine is cleaned to conform to environmental regulations and then either displaced to sea or reinjected into subsurface rock formations. Seawater is also injected into oil reservoirs to maintain the pressure while the oil is being produced and also maximise oil recovery. This project will investigate the potential to do the reverse – produce brine to prevent the pressure increasing during CO2 injection,” Heriot-Watt University petroleum engineering professor Eric Mackay said in the release.
