NETL Releases Data on Methane Hydrate Test

Washington, D.C. —Data from an innovative test conducted last year that used carbon dioxide (CO₂) and nitrogen (N₂) injection to release natural gas from methane hydrates at a well on the Alaska North Slope is now available to researchers and the public on the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) website.

Methane hydrate - essentially molecules of natural gas trapped in ice crystals - represents a potentially enormous energy resource, possibly exceeding the combined energy content of all other fossil fuels. Hydrate resources in arctic sandstone reservoirs contain an in-place gas volume estimated to be in the 100’s of trillions of cubic feet (TCF), while hydrate in marine sands is estimated to contain 1,000’s to 10,000’s of TCF, and hydrate dispersed through marine mud is estimated to contain 100,000’s of TCF. In addition to the immense resource, CO₂ injection into methane hydrate deposits is a technology that can potentially both release an energy resource while permanently storing carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in partnership with other nations and industry, has played a leading role in developing technologies to evaluate how to safely recover these methane hydrate energy resources in order to provide new supplies of clean-burning natural gas.  These resources occur in a variety of forms in sediments within and below thick permafrost in Arctic regions, and in the subsurface of continental waters with a depth of 1,500 feet or greater.  The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has estimated a potentially recoverable resource of 85 trillion cubic feet of gas in favorable hydrate accumulations on the Alaska North Slope alone. 

NETL, the research laboratory of DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy (FE), participated in gas hydrate field production trials in early 2012 in partnership with ConocoPhillips and the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. (JOGMEC). This test well (known as Iġnik Sikumi, Inupiat for “Fire in the Ice”) represented the first test of a CO₂ exchange technology that was developed by ConocoPhillips and the University of Bergen, Norway.  In the test, a small volume of CO₂ and nitrogen was injected into the well and then the well was produced back to demonstrate that this mixture of injected gases could promote production of natural gas.

The large volumes of raw data from the test are currently under evaluation.  The data now available from the test program include the rates and composition of gases both injected and produced, and information on changes in the reservoir pressure and temperature during the test. ConocoPhillips has further augmented the raw data through extensive quality control checks and integration of the various measurements to a standard time framework.  The data are now fully available to all researchers and the public for analysis and evaluation. 

Both the U.S. and Japan have committed to utilizing Arctic gas hydrate research opportunities as an important step in assessing the potential for gas hydrate production in deepwater marine settings, the location of the vast majority of global resources.  DOE and JOGMEC have also collaborated on the development of specialized core sampling devices through the Gulf of Mexico Gas Hydrates Joint Industry Project (an industry consortium managed by Chevron) conducting research on deepwater gas hydrate characterization technology.

In addition to the U.S./Japan collaboration, FE scientists have worked actively with researchers in Korea, India, China, Canada and other nations, as well as with USGS, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and other federal agencies, to advance methane hydrate technology.  The Methane Hydrate Research and Development Act of 2000 established DOE (through the efforts of FE and NETL) as the lead U.S. agency for methane hydrate research and development.

Source: NETL

Granada Scientists Announce New Carbon Gel

Scientists at the University of Granada (UGR) claim they have invented a carbon gel that enables CO2 to be turned into hydrocarbons by electro-catalytic transformation. The doped carbon gel made up of 90% carbon and a small quantity of heavy metals acts as a highly-dispersed and effective electro-catalyst, which means it enables CO2 to be turned into hydrocarbons at a low cost, according to a university press release. The new material was developed entirely at the UGR following more than 10 years of research into carbon gels and has recently been patented by the Institution’s Office for the Transfer of Research Results. Read more

CPI to Host Webinar on Emissions Tracking

National governments use a wide range of institutions and processes to measure, report, and verify (MRV) emissions and mitigation outcomes. These tracking systems are a critical component of policy effectiveness — they help countries meet their domestic policy objectives by tracking achievement of domestic policy targets and informing future policy decisions. Effective domestic MRV processes can also build trust among nations, provide confidence in the effectiveness of international agreements, and inform the design of such agreements.

The Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) has engaged in an effort to characterize, evaluate, and draw insights from domestic MRV systems in four of the major emitters — China, Germany, Italy, and the United States. In a webinar planned for March 12, CPI will highlight the institutional processes these countries use to track emissions and mitigation actions, assess how well they’re currently performing, and point out where systems need to be strengthened in order to meet emerging needs.

NETL Updates Membrane CO2 Capture Research

Membranes offer a potential low-maintenance and economical method for gas separations from power plant flue gas streams. Polymer membranes and supported liquid membranes show great promise to solve problems in the area of clean energy production. Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is a principal by-product of energy production from fossil fuels. Capturing CO₂ from power plant flue gas streams is critical to the goal of reducing the nation’s carbon footprint and preserving the environment. Currently, there is no technology that can meet the goals for carbon capture as set forth by the U.S. Department of Energy. These goals are 90% capture of the CO₂with a less than 35% increase in the cost of energy.

The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is pursuing the development of both polymeric and supported ionic liquid membranes for CO₂ capture. Development of adequate membrane technology requires equipment capable of rapidly measuring membrane performance. Typical membrane testing equipment operates under either constant pressure or constant volume conditions. Constant pressure instruments pass feed gas over one side of the membrane and a sweep gas over the other side of the membrane.

The feed gas is comprised of the gases which are to be separated while the sweep gas is inert and serves the purpose of carrying away the gas that passes through the membrane (i.e. , the separated gas). By carrying away the separated gas, the sweep gas allows for increased efficiency of the separation. Constant volume instruments are set up with a membrane separating a pressurized vessel and an evacuated vessel. The pressurized vessel contains the gases which are being separated. As the gases permeate through the membrane, the pressure in the evacuated vessel will increase. The rate of pressure increase permits a determination of the ability of the membrane to separate the gases.

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