Advanced Resources' performs technical research, manages technology demonstrations and implements technology transfer and outreach programs on behalf of various U.S. government agencies, industry consortia and others. Some of ARI’s current activities in this regard include:

CO2 Capture Project

Vello Kuuskraa, President of Advanced Resources, currently serves as the chair of the Technical Advisory Board of the CO2 Capture Project (CCP), a multi-company, multi-government effort to develop breakthrough technologies to reduce the cost of CO2 separation, capture, transportation and sequestration from fossil fuel combustion streams by 50% for existing energy facilities, and by 75% for new energy facilities. The CCP is utilizing the capabilities of approximately 30 pre-eminent industrial concerns, national laboratories and research organizations. The project is also establishing guidelines for maximizing safe geologic sequestration, for measuring/verifying sequestration volumes, and for assessing and mitigating environmental risks.

Coal-Seq II Consortium

The Coal-Seq Consortium is a government-industry collaborative consortium with the objective of advancing industry's understanding of complex coalbed methane and gas shale reservoir behavior in the presence of multi-component gases via laboratory experiments, theoretical model development and field validation studies. This allows primary recovery, enhanced recovery and CO2 sequestration operations to be commercially enhanced and/or economically deployed. The project was initially launched in 2000 as a U.S. Department of Energy sponsored investigation into CO2 sequestration in deep, unmineable coal seams. Phase 1 accomplished several objectives, including baseline experimental studies, documenting and analyzing existing field projects, and establishing a global network for technology exchange.

The project was extended in 2005 as a government-industry collaborative consortium. Industrial members have included BP America, the CO2-Cooperative Research Centre, ConocoPhillips, the Illinois Clean Coal Institute, Japan Coal Energy Center, Repsol YPF, Schlumberger, and Shell International Exploration & Production. Selected accomplishments from Phase 2 have included the identification and/or development of new models for multi-component sorption and diffusion, laboratory studies of coal geomechanical and permeability behavior with CO2 injection, additional field validation studies, and continued global technology exchange. A summary of project results to date can be found at Results, Status and Future Activities.

Expressions of interest for Phase 3 of the consortium are currently being sought. Some topics identified for investigation include further model development related to multi-component equations-of-state, sorption and diffusion behavior, geomechanical and permeability studies, and many others. Future activities and further background information can be found in the Coal-Seq Consortium- Phase III Proposal paper.

Coalbed Methane Outreach Program

Advanced Resources is the lead contractor for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Coalbed Methane Outreach Program (CMOP). CMOP is a voluntary program whose goal it is to reduce methane emissions from coal mining activities. CMOP’s mission is to promote the profitable recovery and use of coal mine methane (CMM), a greenhouse gas more than 20 times as potent as carbon dioxide. By working cooperatively with coal companies and related industries, CMOP helps to identify and implement methods to use CMM instead of emitting it to the atmosphere. In turn, these actions mitigate climate change, improve mine safety and productivity, and generate revenues and cost savings to industry.

Data-Driven Modeling for Data Integration and High Resolution Reservoir Characterization

With funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and in partnership with Kinder Morgan CO2 Company, Advanced Resources is developing data-driven modeling methods for multi-scale data integration and high-resolution 3D reservoir characterization. Primarily based upon the Geologic Analysis via Maximum Likelihood System (GAMLS), core, log, and seismic data is being correlated and integrated using a combination of intelligent data-mining and modeling methods, such that detailed core-scale reservoir property predictions can be reliably made at well locations using only geophysical well logs, and (in some cases) at each seismic trace location. This information can then be used for more robust geostatistical analysis and flow modeling. The technique is being demonstrated in the platform area of the giant SACROC Unit in the Permian basin (carbonate reservoir) in advance of CO2-EOR activities.

Methanogenic Conversion of CO2 into Methane (METCON)

Under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, Advanced Resources is investigating the feasibility of using methanogenic bacteria, which are known to naturally convert CO2 into CH4, to both help mitigate carbon emissions and provide a new source of gas supply. In Phase I of the project, the six most promising methanogen consortia were identified, as were the mechanisms by which they convert CO2 into CH4, and the general physico-chemical conditions needed to sustain this conversion. Oil and gas reservoirs in the U.S. were screened to define reservoir properties relevant to methanogen growth and identify potential sites for Phase II laboratory and field experiments. In Phase II, currently underway, laboratory experiments are being conducted to incubate and optimize the growth of the selected methanogen species under varying physico-chemical conditions that reflect actual reservoir conditions at the St. Johns test site (a CO2 field in Arizona/New Mexico operated by an industry partner), as well as other potential CO2 test sites.

Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership

In support of the Southern States Energy Board and the Electric Power Research Institute, Advanced Resources’ role in this ongoing project with the Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (Phase II) is to provide the integrating geologic framework and calculation of CO2 storage capacity for the southeast region of the U.S. In addition, Advanced Resources is serving as the primary geological, engineering, MMV and project management contractor for the SECARB – Phase II saline aquifer CO2 injection test. As part of this, we are preparing the detailed site plan for conducting the geologic characterization, well drilling and monitoring activities for the saline aquifers CO2 injection test. Advanced resources is also providing the reservoir modeling support for the Partnerships’s two planned field demonstrations of CO2 sequestration in deep, unmineable coal seams.

Southwest Regional Partnership for Carbon Sequestration

For the Southwest Regional Partnership for Carbon Sequestration, directed by the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Advanced Resources is the lead organization providing engineering, planning and coordination for the partnership’s CO2 injection demonstration in the Fruitland coal of the San Juan basin. With industrial partners ConocoPhillips, Kinder Morgan and others, the demonstration will involve the drilling of a new CO2 injection well and the injection of about 75,000 tons of CO2 over a 12-month period. This will be the largest sequestration demonstration in coal seams for the DOE’s regional partnership program.