Carbon sequestration by proppants
AssigneeConocoPhillips Company
InventorsDallin P. Laycock, Charlotte Plombin, Samuel K. Huisman
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Abstract
Method of carbon sequestration by capturing CO2 emissions and making a proppant from the captured carbon in either a carbon mineralization process or in a carbon nanomaterial manufacturing process, followed by treatments to ensure the quality control of the proppants so that they are suitable for use in hydraulic and other reservoir fracturing methods. Injection of the manufactured proppant in fracking thus sequesters the carbon from the original captured CO2 in the reservoir.
Claims10
A method of sequestering carbon and producing hydrocarbon from an underground formation having at least one well, comprising the method steps of:
- a) making a proppant by:
- i) capturing CO2 from a gas or liquid;
- ii) reacting said CO2 with magnesium or calcium ions in a carbon mineralization reaction under alkaline pH to make porous particles of magnesium carbonate or calcium carbonate, wherein said particles have:
- (1) a crushing rate of less than 10% at 28 MPa,
- (2) a bulk density of 1.5-2.5 g/cm3,
- (3) a size of 0.1-2 mm, and
- (4) a porosity of 30-50%;
- iii) size sorting said particles to produce size ranges of between 20 mesh and 40 mesh, said size sorted particles being a proppant;
- b) introducing a first fractured fluid (FF) through said at least well into the underground formation at a pressure greater than a minimum in-situ rock stress for formation of fractures (FR) in the underground formation;
- c) introducing a second FF containing said proppant through said at least one well into the underground formation to prop open said FR and thereby sequestering carbon from said CO2 in said underground formation;
- and
- d) producing hydrocarbon from said at least one well.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.