US DOE selects five projects to produce fresh water from CO² storage sites

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected five projects to study the feasibility of using salty water, or brine, from carbon dioxide (CO²) storage sites for producing fresh water.

The department will provide over $7m in funding for the projects, which will develop and validate strategies for managing pressure and the flow of CO² in saline formations via a brine extraction storage test (BEST).

It will allow to extract brine from the formation at particular points, where fresh water can be separated in enhanced water recovery (EWR) process.

DOE said extra brine can be injected at other point to help drive the plume.

Under a project, the University of Illinois will develop and validate pressure management and CO² plume control strategies depending on computational and field demonstration work at the Archer Daniels Midland Corporation facility in Decatur, Illinois.

Electric Power Research Institute and its partners will compile data to help chose a preferred project location for the field demonstration in phase II.

The parties will undertake a life-cycle economic analysis for produced water extraction, treatment, and transportation.

Monitoring and water injection/production strategies will be developed to measure and control the subsurface reservoir pressure and plume.

A series of work plans will be prepared to implement the field demonstration project.

The University of Wyoming has collaborated with partners for developing and validating advanced technologies and engineering approaches to predict, monitor, and manage pressure plumes and to develop a test site for deploying treatment technologies for extracted brines.

The University of Texas at Austin will lead a project to test active brine extraction wells, passive pressure relief wells, and combinations of both, for controlling the pressure buildup in the storage formation.

The University of North Dakota Energy and Environmental Research Center and its partners will create a technical design package for a brine extraction and storage test.

US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said: "The projects announced today will further advance enhanced water recovery technologies, which can provide a valuable water resource from carbon capture, utilisation and storage operations, while also reducing harmful carbon emissions.

"This is particularly important for regions that face water shortages, providing additional resiliency and protecting future generations from the harmful effects of climate change."

---

Image: US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. Photo: courtesy of US Department of Energy.