The innovative project is supported by a $633,000 grant from the Carbon Mangement Canada.
Chris Hawkes is working in collaboration with the university’s geomechanics group, researchers at the University of Waterloo and the University of Calgary, and graduate students funded by the U of C’s Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy (ISEEE) for the project.
The researchers squeeze rock cores to simulate conditions deep underground, then inject them with pressurized water or CO2 to see how they deform under stress and how fluids flow through them.
The cores can also be heated to test how they hold up to temperature change, as sudden temperature changes can cause some rock types to crack.
This information will form the basis for computer simulations to predict how injected CO2 might behave underground and the powerful tools will allow assessment of potential CCS sites, from deep saltwater aquifers to mature oil reservoirs, and point to the most effective injection methods.
