Experiments to Investigate Co2 Ocean Sequestration

An international collaboration to investigate the sequestration of COz in the deep ocean was initiated in December 1997. The program is being funded by agencies of the governments of Japan, the U.S., Norway, Canada, and Australia; and Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) of Switzerland. The investigation comprises both experimental and modeling components. During the first phase of the program which runs through March 2002, a field experiment will be conducted in the summer of 2001 in which liquid COz will be injected through various nozzles at a depth of approximately 800 m in the ocean at flow rates ranging from about 0.1 to 1 kg/s. Data will be obtained to develop and validate models that can be applied to predict induced changes to sea water chemistry. This paper describes the planned field experiment and presents selected results from laboratory and modeling studies that have been conducted to support the field experiment.