Managing Multi-Disciplinary Risks Across the CCS Value Chain: Integrating Surface and Subsurface Assurance

Analyzing Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects reveals the intricate interrelationship between surface and subsurface risks, with the potential for independent evaluation to escalate safety concerns into critical incidents. This research promotes a fully integrated multidisciplinary-wide approach from the capture, conditioning, transport, to storage phases to focus on early hazard recognition, prevention, and mitigation. Moreover, out-of-specification CO2 and operational changes can affect downstream operations, altering the capacity, injectivity, and integrity of the reservoir. Reduced injectivity can increase compressor back-pressure which causes periodic shutdowns and system halting.

There is a significant need for a robust, risk-based MMV plan that combines surface operations with subsurface characterization, actively measuring surface operations and subsurface models to allow real-time risk detection for transport and storage. Impurities increase the chance of triggering adverse actions, increase the need for compression, drive corrosion, and instigate adverse geochemical reactions with the material and formation.

Although uncertainty is a reality, a great deal can be accomplished with well-designed strategies, data-driven models, and disciplined engineering that builds on a field data-driven iterative approach. The overall premise is that significant enhancement in reliability, safety, economics and certification is provided through the integration of different disciplines across the CCS value chain.