UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A team of researchers from the University of Southern California (USC) Viterbi School of Engineering and Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, led by Behnam Jafarpour, professor of chemical engineering and material science at USC, has received funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation to establish a center for CO2 Storage Modeling, Analytics, and Risk Reduction Technologies (CO2-SMART). CO2-SMART will be dedicated to innovation in geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide as a technology to enable industrial decarbonization at scale. The team will lead the charge in advancing safe and cost-effective geologic carbon dioxide (CO2) storage science and technologies by establishing a cooperative research program among university partners, government, industry, national labs and foundations.
CO2 emissions are a major contributor to climate change, and many industries are among large point sources of CO2 emissions. One solution to significantly reduce such emissions, according to researchers, is to capture the CO2 before it is released into the atmosphere. The captured CO2 is transported via ship or pipeline to a suitable storage site and injected into deep saline aquifers, which are typically over a kilometer underground, that are sealed by layers of impermeable natural rocks known as caprock.
Implementing this technology at commercial scale involves several technical and practical challenges, including accurate understanding and prediction of the complex CO2-fluid-rock interactions, improved economics of field development and operation, reliable and practical regulatory frameworks to ensure safe and permanent storage of CO2 underground and a skilled workforce to implement and manage geologic CO2 storage projects. Successful implementation of the geologic CO2 storage technology calls for an interdisciplinary approach with collaborations among key stakeholders — including CO2 emitters, injection site operators, service companies and regulators — and scientists from various disciplines.
“CO2-SMART aims to tackle some of the key scientific challenges faced in commercial deployment of geologic CO2 storage by developing advanced technologies to improve its safety, efficiency and economic viability,” said Jafarpour, the principal investigator of the NSF award who directs the subsurface energy and environmental systems lab at USC and has extensive experience in managing industry projects, including the Energi Simulation Industrial Research Chair Program in Subsurface Energy Data Science. “The center provides a unique opportunity to partner with industry and government to work toward addressing these challenges through collaborative research projects that are carried out by a multidisciplinary team of researchers with expertise in engineering, earth science and energy policy and economics.”
Sanjay Srinivasan, the John and Willie Leone Family Chair in Energy and Mineral Engineering and director of the Penn State EMS Energy Institute, serves as the Penn State site director for the project.
“The development of technologies to accurately characterize injection sites, monitor displacement of the injected CO2 and manage reservoir pressure is crucial for deploying carbon sequestration projects," Srinivasan said. "Equitable access to pore space and streamlined permitting processes are key challenges for policymakers and industry. Research at our center will address these challenges, facilitating rapid and safe project deployment. Researchers at USC and Penn State, renowned for their contributions, are eager to participate in this effort to create safe and rapidly deployable technologies and strategies for industry and regulators.”