Storing carbon dioxide and producing methane and geothermal energy from deep saline aquifers
AssigneeBoard of Regents, The University of Texas System
InventorsSteven L. Bryant, Gary A. Pope
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A novel idea involving the coupling of CO2 geological storage with methane and/or heat production (geothermal energy) from geopressured-geothermal aquifers is described herein. The production of energy from the extracted brine offsets the cost of capture, pressurization, and injection and the subsequent injection of brine containing carbon dioxide back into the aquifer. Calculations described in the present invention indicate that this offset would reduce the cost of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) to a point that CCS could survive in a competitive market environment without subsidies or a price on carbon.
Claims11
A process for obtaining methane from beneath a surface of the Earth, the process comprising:
- collecting a native brine comprising methane at the surface from a first well;
- contacting the collected native brine comprising methane with a gas comprising carbon dioxide (CO2) thereby obtaining the methane from the collected native brine and forming a composition comprising the collected native brine and the gas comprising CO2;
- and
- injecting the composition comprising the collected native brine and the gas comprising CO2 into a second well.
A process for obtaining methane beneath a surface of the Earth, the process comprising:
- collecting a native brine comprising methane at the surface from a first well;
- contacting the collected native brine comprising methane with a gas comprising carbon dioxide (CO2) thereby obtaining the methane from the collected native brine and forming a composition comprising the collected native brine and the gas comprising CO2;
- injecting the composition comprising the collected native brine and the gas comprising CO2 into a second well;
- and
- burning the methane in a gas turbine or steam boiler to generate electricity, or
- compressing the methane to form compressed natural gas (CNG), rocket fuel, liquefied natural gas, or combinations thereof.
A method for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and obtaining methane in a deep saline aquifer beneath a surface of the Earth, the method comprising:
- collecting a native brine comprising methane at the surface from a first well;
- contacting the collected native brine comprising methane with a gas thereby obtaining the methane from the collected native brine and forming a composition comprising the collected native brine and the gas;
- wherein the gas comprises carbon dioxide (CO2) or other greenhouse gases, said gas being from an industrial emitter, a coal-fired electric plant, a petrochemical plant or refinery, a flue, or any commercial, industrial, or household operation;
- injecting the collected native brine comprising the gas into a second well thereby capturing and sequestering the gas in the native brine in the second well, and
- burning the methane in a gas turbine or steam boiler to generate electricity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.