SUBSURFACE INSIGHTS LLC — Department of Energy STTR Phase I: 13a

Description

The subsurface plays a critical, multifaceted role in USA energy security. The subsurface contains energy resources (conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons as well as geothermal) and provides hundreds of years of safe storage capacity for carbon dioxide (CO2). As demonstrated by the impact of domestic non-conventional hydrocarbon production over the past ten years both USA energy security and the US economy are strengthened by the US ability to provide for a large part of its national energy needs. This ability is conditional on technologies which allow US energy producers to use subsurface resources in an economical and environmentally responsible manner. Continued use of subsurface energy resources will increasingly require the ability to effectively manipulate and control the subsurface and novel enabling technologies are needed for this manipulation and control. Integrated hardware and software will be developed which will allow for real time subsurface flow control. This will be done by coupling real time imaging of subsurface flow to a hydrogeophysical parameter estimation loop which will determine optimum parameters for a Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. Data from this system will also be available for integration in 3rd party expert systems. In Phase I we will develop and validate the different software and hardware components required for our system. We will integrate these components, and demonstrate their performance and the feasibility of our approach using a small scale model. A key requirement for optimum use of subsurface resources is the capability to manipulate flow. Subsurface Insights will develop and demonstrate a system which will enable real time manipulation of subsurface flow. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits: This system will allow for optimum production of unconventional and conventional resources, and also will support improved groundwater management and in situ remediation efforts.