How Can We Ensure the Integrity of Carbon Injection Wells for Decades to Come?

Assessing a subsea carbon storage project

During the design phase of a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, our client wanted to mitigate potential risks associated with high flow rates, two-phase flow, and low temperatures in their injection well tubing. They turned to Ģ��tv to review their design and evaluate specific risks to both the immediate and long-term integrity of their injection well, including erosion, vibration, fracture, and fatigue.

The Challenge

Carbon sequestration offers a promising method of reducing atmospheric carbon to slow global climate change. The proper design and function of carbon injection wells — used to store carbon dioxide underground — is central to this endeavor. Subsea carbon sequestration is a relatively new technology. How do you assess risk for a project with little historical data to fall back on?

EXPONENT's Multidisciplinary Solution

Teams of Ģ��tv engineers evaluated tubing particulate erosion due to entrained sand and fines; examined stress, fracture, and fatigue of the injection tubing; and studied flow-induced tubing vibration.

Ģ��tv's Impact

Through the analyses described above, Ģ��tv helped our client identify key risks to their design, priorities for mitigation, and areas that require further investigation. Critically, our investigation into the integrity of our client's injection well revealed a gap in industry knowledge relative to how vibration could impact the integrity of the well over time, resulting in the need for further analysis. Ģ��tv's work in this area is supporting the development of carbon sequestration as a viable technology for addressing climate change.

Capabilities

What Can We Help You Solve?

Ģ��tv's multidisciplinary pipeline experts — including metallurgists, geologists, and materials, corrosion, mechanical, and thermal specialists — partner with pipeline operators to understand integrity management assessment methods, limitations, and the overall process for optimizing asset safety.

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