PhD defence: Rune Nørbæk Lassen

Rune Nørbæk Lassen defends his thesis

Experimental and numerical investigations of subsurface transport of gaseous CO2

Supervisors
Professor Karsten Høgh Jensen, IGN
Assistant Professor Majken Looms Zibar, IGN
Senior Researcher Torben Sonnenborg, GEUS

Assessment Committee
Professor Peter Engesgaard, IGN (chairman)
Professor Auli Niemi, University of Uppsala - Sweden
Senior Researcher Rasmus Jakobsen, GEUS

Abstract (shortened)
CO2 is the primary greenhouse gas generated by human activity. In response to this, the geoengineering method Carbon Capture and Storage, CCS, is being investigated as a mitigation method to reduce the release of CO2 to the atmosphere. However, leakage from a CCS site is still a concern as leaking CO2 would migrate upward and end up in aquifers used for drinking water supply and/or return to the surface. Here the CO2-gas could constitute a threat to the environment and be a potential hazard to human health. The potential leakage pathways will most likely occur through abandoned/poorly sealed wells or higher permeable faults zones. Despite the low probability of leakage, there is still a public demand for exploring all the processes occurring as a result of leakage from a storage site.
The focus of this PhD study has mainly been on investigating the migration of CO2 in shallow heterogeneous aquifers caused by a potential leakage from a CO2 storage site. To help enlighten the dominant processes and mechanisms controlling CO2 migration in the shallow subsurface, a combination of laboratory and field experiments were conducted. The results from these experiments were compared to modelling results obtained using a multiphase numerical code.

The thesis is available from the PhD administration office 04.1.409