GFZ German research centre for geo sciences

Field test for back-production of CO2 at the Ketzin pilot site

2014/10/15: Today the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences started a field test for back-production of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Ketzin.

Experiment in the finale phase of the CO2 storage project
October 15, 2014: Today the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences started a field test for back-production of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Ketzin. At this pilot site for the scientific investigation of geological storage of the greenhouse gas CO2 near the town Ketzin/Havel, a total of approximately 67,000 tons of CO2 were injected in porous sandstones at a depth of 630m to 650 m between June 2008 and August 2013. In the field test which has just started and will run until 28 October 2014, it is planned to back-produce a mass of about 500 to 1,000 tons of CO2 from the reservoir.

This is a test to comply, on the one, hand with a requirement of the State office for Mining, Geology and Resources of Brandenburg (LBGR): the Ketzin pilot site has been permitted as a storage project which implies that the CO2 can be back-produced. On the other hand, the experiment is highly interesting from a scientific perspective. The head of the Center for Geological Storage at GFZ, Axel Liebscher, explains: "At the Ketzin pilot site Ketzin we back-produce for the very first time CO2 from a reservoir." During the test, the pressure and temperature conditions in the CO2 reservoir are continuously monitored and the back-produced CO2 will be sampled and analyzed.

In addition, scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ and the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) conduct accompanying studies and measure atmospheric changes of the CO2 content on site. "With the back-production test we are able to generate a unique data set which will be analyzed in detail and provide us with new insights into the CO2 reservoir behaviour," says Axel Liebscher.

Pic in printable resolution
caption: Back production of CO2 from the geological storage of the GFZ at Ketzin, Oct. 2014 (photo: T. Kollersberger, GFZ)

More information about the Ketzin project, see website: www.co2ketzin.de www.co2ketzin.de

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