MVA Techniques and Application at the Citronelle SECARB Phase III site, Alabama

The Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership Anthropogenic Test at Southern Company’s Plant Berry 25MW Post-combustion CO2 Capture Unit is the largest, active, fully-integrated commercial prototype coal-fired carbon capture and storage projects in the USA. Two Class V Experimental Injection Well underground injection control (UIC) permits were issued in November 2011 and the project’s injection wells have been installed with one of the two wells being used for injection of CO2. A robust Monitoring, Verification, and Accounting (MVA) plan has been developed and implemented to monitor and track the CO2 plume and the associated pressure field. A maximum of 550 tonnes of CO2 per day is being captured, transported and injected into a saline geologic formation. The injection target is the lower Cretaceous Paluxy Formation, which occurs at 9,400 feet. Transportation and injection operations will continue for two to three years. Subsurface monitoring will be deployed through 2017 to track plume movement and monitor for leakage and site closure. This paper will discuss the range of MVA techniques deployed at the site, which include surface, shallow, and deep monitoring. Frequency, range of accuracy, and key findings of the MVA program to date will be presented.