Alberta Acid gas

Project Overview

Over the past decade, oil and gas producers in western Canada have been faced with a growing challenge to reduce atmospheric emissions of H2S, which is produced from “sour” hydrocarbon pools. Sour oil and gas are hydrocarbons that contain H2S and CO2, which have to be removed before the produced oil or gas is sent to markets. Since surface desulphurization through the Claus process is generally uneconomical, and the surface storage of the produced sulphur constitutes a liability, more operators are turning to acid gas disposal by injection into deep geological formations. In addition to providing a cost-effective alternative to sulphur recovery, the deep injection of acid gas reduces emissions of noxious substances into the atmosphere and alleviates the public concern resulting from sour gas production and flaring.

Although the purpose of the acid-gas injection operations is to dispose of H2S, significant quantities of CO2 are being injected at the same time because it is costly to separate the two gases. In the context of current efforts to reduce anthropogenic emissions of CO2, these acid-gas injection operations represent an analogue to geological storage of CO2. Large-scale injection of CO2 into depleted oil and gas reservoirs and into deep saline aquifers is one of the most promising methods of geological storage of CO2, and in this respect, it is no different from acid-gas injection operations. Thus, the study of the acid-gas injection operations in western Canada provides the opportunity to learn about the safety of these operations and about the fate of the injected gases, and represents a unique opportunity to investigate the feasibility of CO2 geological storage. Acid gas injection currently occurs at 39 active operations in Alberta and northeastern British Columbia.

Project Type

Storage.

Location

Alberta, Canada.

Type of CO₂ Storage Operation

Onshore saline aquifer.

Major Stakeholders

Governmental organisations
Industrial partners
Academia

Project Scale

Pilot.

Project Start Year: unknown

	2006

	Unknown
	25 kt/a
	Unknown

Project Cost

Unknown.

Project website