A numerical analysis of background flow velocity effects on long-term post-injection migration of CO2 plumes in tilted storage aquifers
Abstract view|135|times PDF download|84|times
Abstract
Even though groundwater flow exists in many saline aquifers, very few studies have investigated its significance on the injected CO2 migration and trapping processes. Here, a numerical simulation approach is used to study the late post-injection migration and trapping of CO2 injected into a tilted aquifer. The analysis highlights that although the migration of the CO2 and its dissolution in brine is induced by buoyancy, the existence of background flow can further affect the plume velocity, convective dissolution, the dissolved CO2 flux and its distribution in the storage complex. Our analysis shows that the background flow removes the residual CO2, by dissolution, before the convective dissolution of the mobile part becomes dominant. The plume decelerates during its vertical migration by a factor of 6.5; then, its height increases with time to more than 15% as background flow velocity increases, hence reducing its rate of deceleration. However, when the plume reaches its maximum height, it migrates with a constant velocity. Greater background flow velocity not only allows the plume to migrate further, but it may hinder CO2 dissolution. This is because it can transport the dissolved CO2 underneath the plume for a long time, thus slowing down the interaction at the CO2-brine interface. The weak and strong background flows can impact the tendency of the dissolved CO2 to persist underneath the caprock. Our results indicate the existence of a critical background flow velocity which can control the distribution of the dissolved CO2 at the bottom of the aquifer, further away from the caprock.
Document Type: Original article
Cited as: Awag, M., Mackay, E., Ghanbari, S. A numerical analysis of background flow velocity effects on long-term post-injection migration of CO2 plumes in tilted storage aquifers. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2024, 11(2): 103-114. https://doi.org/10.46690/ager.2024.02.03
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Awag, M., Mackay, E., Ghanbari, S. CO2 plume migration in tilted aquifers subject to groundwater flow. Paper Presented at 83rd EAGE Annual Conference and Exhibition, Madrid, Spain, 1-5 June, 2022.
Awag, M., Mackay, E., Ghanbari, S. The impact of background water flow on the early migration of a CO2 plume in a tilted aquifer during the post-injection period. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2023, 9(2): 125-135.
Awag, M., Mackay, E., Ghanbari, S. Numerical analysis on the direction of groundwater flux effects on the early post-injection migration of a CO2 plume. Carbon Capture Science & Technology, 2024a, 10: 100153.
Awag, M., Mackay, E., Ghanbari, S. Comparison between downdip and updip groundwater flow on early CO2 migration in dipping storage aquifers. Gas Science and Engineering, 2024b, 121: 205181.
Bachu, S. Review of CO2 storage efficiency in deep saline aquifers. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 2015, 40: 188-202.
Bachu, S., Gunter, W., Perkins, E. Aquifer disposal of CO2: Hydrodynamic and mineral trapping. Energy Conversion and Management, 1994, 35(4): 269-279.
Birkholzer, J. T., Oldenburg, C. M., Zhou, Q. CO2 migration and pressure evolution in deep saline aquifers. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 2008, 40: 203- 220.
Cameron, D. A., Durlofsky, L. J. Optimization of well placement, CO2 injection rates, and brine cycling for geological carbon sequestration. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 2012, 10: 100-112.
CMG-GEM. Computer Modelling Group. s.l. 2022.
Elenius, M., Voskov, D., Tchelepi, H. Interactions between gravity currents and convective dissolution. Advances in Water Resources, 2015, 83: 77-88.
Emami-Meybodi, H., Hassanzadeh, H. Two-phase convective mixing under a buoyant plume of CO2 in deep saline aquifers. Advances in Water Resources, 2015, 76: 55-71.
Emami-Meybodi, H., Hassanzadeh, H., Ennis-King, J. CO2 dissolution in the presence of background flow of deep saline aquifers. Water Resources Research, 2015, 51(4): 2595-2615.
Ennis-King, J., Paterson, L. Role of convective mixing in the long-term storage of carbon dioxide in deep saline formations. SPE Journal, 2005, 10(3): 349-356.
Förster, A., Norden, B., Zinck-Jørgensen, K., et al. Baseline characterization of the CO2SINK geological storage site at Ketzin, Germany. Environmental Geosciences, 2006, 13(3): 145-161.
Gunter, W., Wiwchar, B., Perkins, E. Aquifer disposal of CO2-rich greenhouse gases: Extension of the time scale of experiment for CO2-sequestering reactions by geochemical modelling. Mineralogy and Petrology, 1997, 59: 121-140.
Han, W. S., Kim, K. Y. Evaluation of CO2 plume migration and storage under dip and sinusoidal structures in geologic formation. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2018, 169: 760-771.
Han, W. S., Kue-Young, K., Esser, R. P., et al. Sensitivity study of simulation parameters controlling CO2 trapping mechanisms in saline formations. Transport in Porous Media, 2011, 90: 807-829.
Harter, T. Basic concepts of groundwater hydrology. California, University of California, 2003.
Harvey, A. H. Semiempirical correlation for henry’s constants over large temperature ranges. AIChE Journal, 1996, 42(5): 1491-1494.
Hassanzadeh, H., Pooladi-Darvish, M., Keith, D. The effect of natural flow of aquifers and associated dispersion on the onset of buoyancy-driven convection in a saturated porous medium. AIChE Journal, 2009, 55(2): 475-485.
Hovorka, S. D., Benson, S. M., Doughty, C., et al. Measuring permanence of CO2 storage in saline formations: The Frio experiment. Environmental Geosciences, 2006, 13(2): 105-121.
Jossi, J. A., Stiel, L. I., Thodos, G. The viscosity of pure substances in the dense gaseous and liquid phase. AIChE Journal, 1962, 8(1): 59-63.
Juanes, R., MacMinn, C. W. Upscaling of capillary trapping under gravity override: Application to CO2 sequestration in Aquifers. Paper SPE 113496 Presented at SPE Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 20-23 April, 2008.
Juanes, R., MacMinn, C. W., Szulczewski, M. L. The footprint of the CO2 plume during carbon dioxide storage in saline aquifers: Storage efficiency for capillary trapping at the basin scale. Transport in Porous Media, 2009, 82(1): 19-30.
Kestin, J., Khalifa, H. E., Correia, R. J. Tables of the dynamic and kinematic viscosity of aqueous NaCl solutions in the temperature range 20-150 ◦C and the pressure range 0.1-35 MPa. Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data, 1981, 10(1): 71-88.
Kumar, A., Noh, M. H., Ozah, R, et al. Reservoir simulation of CO2 storage in deep saline aquifers. SPE Journal, 2005, 10(3): 336-348.
Land, C. E. Calculation of imbibition relative permeability for two- and three-phase flow from rock properties. SPE Journal, 1968, 8(2): 149-156.
Leonenko, Y., Keith, D. W. Reservoir engineering to accelerate the dissolution of CO2 stored in aquifers. Environmental Science & Technology, 2008, 42(8): 2742-2747.
Li, Y. K., Nghiem, L. X. Phase equilibria of oil, gas and water/brine mixtures from a cubic equation of state and Henry’s Law. The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, 1986, 64(3): 486-496.
Mackay, E. J. Modelling the injectivity, migration and trapping of CO2 in carbon capture and storage (CCS). in Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxide (CO2), edited by J. Gluyas and S. Mathias, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2013, pp. 45-70.
MacMinn, C., Szulczewski, M., Juanes, R. CO2 migration in saline aquifers. Part 1. Capillary trapping under slope and groundwater flow. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2010, 662: 329-351.
Michel-Meyer, I., Shavit, U., Rosenzweig, R. The role of water flow and dispersion in the dissolution of CO2 in deep saline aquifers. Energy Procedia, 2017, 114: 4994-5006.
Nghiem, L., Shrivastava, V., Kohse, B., et al. Simulation and optimization of trapping processes for CO2 storage in saline aquifers. Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology, 2010, 49(8): 15-22.
Nicot, J. P. Evaluation of large-scale CO2 storage on freshwater sections of aquifers: An example from the Texas Gulf Coast Basin. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 2008, 2(4): 583-593.
Oh, J., Kim, K., Han, W., et al. Transport of CO2 in heterogeneous porous media: Spatio-temporal variation of trapping mechanisms. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 2017, 57: 52-62.
Peng, D. Y., Robinson, D. B. A new two-constant equation of state. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Fundamentals, 1976, 15(1): 59-64.
Pruess, K., Nordbotten, J. Numerical simulation studies of the long-term evolution of a CO2 plume in a saline aquifer with a sloping caprock. Transport in Porous Media, 2011, 90: 135-151.
Riaz, A., Cinar, Y. Carbon dioxide sequestration in saline formations: Part I-Review of the modeling of solubility trapping. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2014, 124: 367-380.
Rowe, A. M., Chou, J. C. Pressure-volume-temperatureconcentration relation of aqueous sodium chloride solutions. Journal of Chemical and Engineering Data, 1970, 15(1): 61-66.
Wang, F., Jing, J., Xu, T., et al. Impacts of stratum dip angle on CO2 Geological storage amount and security. Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology, 2016, 6(5): 682-694.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.46690/ager.2024.02.03
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2024 The Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.