It is a multinational project that takes a step forward to carbon neutral economy. Since certain CO2 producing/source sectors cannot be avoided, it is imperative to have a CO2 sink/storage. One of the solutions is to store CO2 in the subsurface geological reservoirs which have large capacity to retain it safely for a long period without a risk of leakage. This group is working on the possibility of sequestration in Basaltic rocks. CSIR-NGRI is the national coordinator of this project in India. A multi-institutional international team lead by GEOMAR, Germany is participating in this program.

Deeper Coal seams have been reported as an excellent rock with large potential for carbon sequestration. Further Barren Measures Shales have been reported to have high Shale gas potential. Thus, to explore both the formations, we work on systematic assessment of the CO2 storage potential of the coalfield in Raniganj, WB. This includes mapping of all coal seams present (within seismic resolution) as well as mapping of all fractures and faults. The figure on right is from Raniganj Block, where we were able to delineate the Barren Measure formations and deeper Barkar Formation. Many fractures can be seen present in the upper Raniganj Formation while the Barakar seams are continuous.

3D seismic data was acquired in a small Patratu block in collaboration with CMPDI and IIEST Shibpur to assess characterize the coal seams with CBM potential. A geomodel of the studied region has been generated by picking major coal seams and faults.

The subsurface imaging using seismics methods requires good estimates for near surface velocity. It can be achieved by integrating the various dataset. One such unique data is obtained using Multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) method that utilizes the shear wave property of the material to characterize the near-surface properties. Such properties are also critical for the planning and development of geotechnical structures.

The group is also engaged in the advanced geophysical modelling and imaging method which is crucial for working with unique challenges posed with shallow seismic data acquired for land. With this aim we are developing a seismic inversion package for high-resolution subsurface image. This method utilizes the fractal characteristics of geophysical well log data for the stochastic inversion. One such result is shown on the right-hand side for the data from F3, The Netherlands.

We are also working on the assessment of CO2 storage potential and the feasibility of seismic techniques to monitor the injected CO2. For this, we have first generated a conceptual model for a block in Gandhar field, Cambay Basin and simulated the CO2-plume evolution in the nearest overburden of the reservoir. The CO2 was injected in the overburden sand (see image on right) and then movement of CO2 was tracked for few years to understand the leakage detectability issues.