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Mattoon's geology deciding factor in FutureGen search

Posted December 17, 2007 10:00 pm

Tim Landis

After 300 million or so years, the Mount Simon Sandstone Formation got its 15 minutes of fame on Tuesday.

A layer of sandstone and shale more than a mile beneath the surface at Mattoon was a key factor in selection of the area as the site for the FutureGen coal-gasification project, which is intended to cut greenhouse emissions from power production by injecting carbon dioxide deep into the earth.

"It was 'Mount what?'" said Robert Finley, director of the energy and resources center for the Illinois State Geological Survey.

Survey researchers have spent the past two years studying the carbon-sequestration capacity of a sandstone formation that stretches beneath most of Illinois, southwest Indiana and western Kentucky.

But it was an especially deep, thick section beneath Mattoon and Tuscola that drew FutureGen scientists to the area.

"It allows us to put carbon dioxide into the deepest rock unit in the basin," said Finley.

Geologists estimate the Mount Simon Sandstone Formation is 300 million to 600 million years old. It apparently takes its name from a small community on the outer edges in Wisconsin.

The FutureGen power plant would convert coal to hydrogen and carbon dioxide, then use the hydrogen to generate electricity while injecting liquid CO2 into the ground.

Finley said the formation, approximately 6,000 feet below Mattoon, was found to have the ideal combination of porous sandstone to hold the gas and a harder, upper layer of shale to "cap" the CO2 and keep it from escaping.

The area also is free of oil wells and other drilling sites, he added.

"There are no wells anywhere nearby that penetrate the seal, which is important for safety and effectiveness," he said.

FutureGen and federal energy officials estimated there is sufficient storage capacity for up to 100 years at the Mattoon site. But both finalist states, Illinois and Texas, approved laws protecting the development consortium from legal liability as testing begins of the cutting-edge technology.

"There are a lot of legal and regulatory steps that must be taken to use carbon sequestration," FutureGen site manager Lucy Swartz said during a Washington, D.C., announcement ceremony that was live on the Internet.

She, too, said the Mattoon area of Mount Simon seemed ideal to test the carbon-sequestration technology.

"The site is move-in ready, and it's very deep," she said.

Proving carbon-sequestration technology works would help boost a variety of clean-coal projects in Illinois, said Todd Ely of Ely Consulting in Springfield.

Ely has served as a consultant on a variety of Illinois energy projects, including the proposed Taylorville Energy Center gasification plant in Christian County.

"This (FutureGen) is really a federal laboratory," said Ely. "This is certainly good for Illinois and all the other coal-gasification projects. It validates what we've been saying, that coal gasification is the future not just for Illinois coal, but for all coals."

Tim Landis can be reached at 788-1536 or tim.landis@sj-r.com.

What next?

n The Midwest Geological Sequestration Partnership, led by the Illinois State Geological Survey, will analyze the Mattoon site and create models before injecting carbon dioxide as a test of the storage and sealing capacity.

n About 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide a day will be injected for three years before the site is closed and monitored for effectiveness.

n The Archer Daniels Midland ethanol plant in Decatur will supply the CO2, while the U.S. Department of Energy will pay for the pipeline and other facilities needed to deliver the gas to the Mattoon site.

 

Source: U.S. Department of Energy

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