NSF Award
2413215
The Industry-University Cooperative Research Center for Earth Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Utilization (CEGRU) proposes an integrated collaboration between two sites, Oklahoma State University and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, to conduct science and engineering research to reduce greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere through prevention, mitigation, utilization, and sequestration. The Center's core is composed of university faculty and students and an advisory board of diverse of interested entities that include private sector companies, government agencies, and national research labs. Other community organizations and stakeholders will also be involved with a goal of reducing greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and its consequent impacts. The Center seeks to accomplish its goal by performing transdisciplinary basic research to advance greenhouse gas storage resource assessment and increased subsurface security via development of novel energy and greenhouse gas storage in the geologic subsurface and carbon dioxide storage in manufactured materials. Recognizing that making the required energy transition from petroleum requires tradeoffs, some of which can have different negative impacts, this Center will pursue integrative research to evaluate and track impacts to air quality, water, climate, and society. In terms of broader impacts, community engagement will be integral to all activities to effectively identify key stakeholders and their buy-in for success of projects, focusing on understanding current community and stakeholder sentiment, collaboration on resolutions, and the development of ongoing relationship management strategies. The Center’s engagement of undergraduate and graduate students and postdocs in research activities will contribute to the development of the workforce of the future that is required to support net-zero greenhouse gas goals by 2050. Active collaborations with Minority-Serving Institutions will ensure equitable training opportunities for a diverse future workforce. Such interactions can result in much needed equitable improvements in the diversity of the research community and in impacted communities where technologies will be implemented.<br/><br/>The Oklahoma State University contribution to the proposed Center for Earth Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Utilization (CEGRU) will focus on science and engineering that is complementary to research at the Center's Illinois Lead Site. The Oklahoma Site will take the lead in the wellbore/subsurface infrastructure by developing novel wellbore construction/completion materials and technologies that ensure a sealed subsurface system for the long term which is crucial for greenhouse or hydrogen gas storage security. This work will be done in collaboration with material scientists and other researchers at the Illinois Site. The Oklahoma Site will also lead in airborne methane greenhouse gas detection and mapping, using novel in-situ and remote sensing tools and data collected from legacy oil and gas wells. Results of this research will be used to identify wellbore integrity issues that will improve understanding of failure types to prevent future wellbore failures. Materials investigations will include those applicable to advanced engineering solutions that ensure wellbore integrity in the presence of greenhouse gases, at low pH, and various pressure and temperature conditions. Work will employ interdisciplinary science and engineering methods from high pressure/high temperature physics and surface chemistry to subsurface engineering that includes rock-cement-metal wellbore models. The research at the Oklahoma Site of the proposed industry-university cooperative research center aims to illuminate the intricate relationship between, leak development, subsurface rock characteristics, and wellbore drilling and completion technologies. This approach allows the development and implementation of more effective greenhouse gas prevention and mitigation strategies. Additional work will include complementary research in geological and geophysical subsurface evaluation which will be integrated with the Illinois Site's work. In addition to the wellbore and related work, the Oklahoma Site will also lead a seismic data processing and integration thrust in collaboration with the Illinois Site's expertise in seismic reflection interpretation and passive seismic data analysis for carbon capture and storage. It will join with the Center Illinois partner in strategic communication efforts to support the Center outreach agenda and community engagement efforts.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
