New Innovation Seed Grant for InSituStreTech Project

The Soil Mechanics Laboratory is developing a new project called InSituStreTech to explore sustainable Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies.

Geomechanical analyses for ensuring the efficient and safe storage of CO2 requires knowledge of the in-situ stress state. Compared to conventional geotechnical applications (e.g., foundations, retaining structures), the knowledge of the in-situ stress state for this engineering application has additional complexities due to the high depth (up to kilometers), complex stress history (current tectonic stresses, and residual stresses associated with past tectonic events, erosive and diagenetic processes) and often anisotropic stress states. Existing estimation methodologies have innumerable limitations and do not allow reliable determination of the complete stress state.

The InSituStreTech project is developing an innovative technology suitable for in-situ stress estimation for CO2 geological storage. The proposed technology has a theoretical basis; it will use ad-hoc measurement tools, measurement protocols, and data analysis tools.

InSituStreTech will contribute to today's sustainability challenges by not only improving the CCS mitigation strategy but, it will also be environmentally sustainable (from production to end-of-life, with emphasis on the chosen materials and the reusability of the tools). The target customers of the technology are both public and private sectors and will involve all entities responsible for the design and verification activities of CCS projects.

Angelica Tuttolomondo who leads the project says, “CCS is nowadays recognized as crucial for mitigating climate change and storing CO2 in geological formations (e.g., depleted hydrocarbon fields and deep saline aquifers) is currently considered the most attractive option”.

The grant is funded by EPFL’s School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC) based on the three strategic areas: climate change, digitalization and urbanization.