Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium – Deployment Phase

Primary Performing Organization
University of Illinois, Illinois State Geological Survey

The Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC) is one of seven Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships created by DOE in 2003 as part of a national plan to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. 

The Deployment Phase will be the third of a three phase program.  Efforts in the Deployment Phase (2008-2017) will be an extension of the Characterization and Validation Phases and will demonstrate that CO₂ capture, transportation, and storage can be achieved safely, permanently and economically at a large scale in a region composed of Illinois, southwest Indiana, and western Kentucky (the Illinois Basin).

Figure 1. Aerial photo of ADM Test Site in Decatur, Illinois

Specifically, MGSC will partner with the Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) to conduct a large volume saline sequestration test at ADM’s ethanol facility in Decatur, Illinois.  The test will involve the injection of 333,000 metric tons (367,000 U.S. tons) of CO₂ per year from the ethanol plant for three years into the Mount Simon Sandstone, a major regional saline formation in the Illinois Basin.

MGSC will monitor, mitigate, and validate the information and equipment operations from the two previous phases of its partnership operations.  Additional specific objectives include:

• Demonstrating the ability of the Mount Simon Sandstone to accept and retain 1.0 million metric tons of CO₂ injected over a period of three years.
• Achieving a more comprehensive understanding of the science, technology, regulatory framework, risk factors, and public opinion issues regarding large scale injection operations.
• Refining capacity estimates of the target formation using results of the injection test.

MGSC’s groundwater and geochemical models will provide insight as to the long term fate of injected CO₂ for the benefit of all the Regional Partnership members, and will be used to study the regional impact of multiple injection wells on a flow within a saline aquifer across the Illinois Basin.

Contact:
Project Manager:  John Litinski, john.litinski@netl.doe.gov

Related Papers and Publications:

• MGSC Deployment Fact Sheet