Source terms for CO_2 risk modeling and GIS/simulation based tools for risk characterization

摘要

This paper presents a methodology for generating the plume distribution and source term for a CO_2 leak and for using such information with GIS/MT (meteorological-topographic) risk-indexing tools. The methodology was developed based on a field study of CO_2 escaping from an abandoned well penetrating a natural CO_2 reservoir at Crystal Geyser, near Moab, Utah. We then applied our risk modeling to a hypothetical similarly sized plume at a potential carbon sequestration (CS) site in the Midwest. This approach can be used as a powerful tool to screen for high-risk zones at each proposed sequestration site, to design and optimize surface networks for site monitoring and/or to guide setting science-based regulatory compliance requirements for monitoring sequestration sites, as well as to target critical areas for first responders should a catastrophic release event occur.