Print Email Facebook Twitter An Efficient Simulation Approach for Long-term Assessment of CO2 Storage in Complex Geological Formations Title An Efficient Simulation Approach for Long-term Assessment of CO2 Storage in Complex Geological Formations Author Zhang, Z. (TU Delft Numerical Analysis) Wang, Y. (TU Delft Numerical Analysis) Vuik, Cornelis (TU Delft Delft Institute of Applied Mathematics) Hajibeygi, H. (TU Delft Reservoir Engineering) Date 2023 Abstract We present an efficient compositional framework for simulation of CO2 storage in saline aquifers with complex geological geometries during a lifelong injection and migration process. To improve the computation efficiency, the general framework considers the essential hydrodynamic physics, including hysteresis, dissolution and capillarity, by means of parameterized space. The parameterization method translates physical models into parameterized spaces during an offline stage before simulation starts. Among them, the hysteresis behavior of constitutive relations is captured by the surfaces created from bounding and scanning curves, on which relative permeability and capillarity pressure are determined directly with a pair of saturation and turning point values. The new development also allows for simulation of realistic reservoir models with complex geological features. The numerical framework is validated by comparing simulation results obtained from the Cartesian-box and the converted corner-point grids of the same geometry, and it is applied to a field-scale reservoir eventually. For the benchmark problem, the CO2 is injected into a layered formation. Key processes such as accumulation of CO2 under capillarity barriers, gas breakthrough and dissolution, are well captured and agree with the results reported in literature. The roles of various physical effects and their interactions in CO2 trapping are investigated in a realistic reservoir model using the corner-point grid. It is found that dissolution of CO2 in brine occurs when CO2 and brine are in contact. The effect of residual saturation and hysteresis behavior can be captured by the proposed scanning curve surface in a robust way. The existence of capillarity causes less sharp CO2-brine interfaces by enhancing the imbibition of the brine behind the CO2 plume, which also increases the residual trapping. Moreover, the time-dependent characteristics of the trapping amount reveals the different time scales on which various trapping mechanisms (dissolution and residual) operate and the interplay. The novelty of the development is that essential physics for CO2 trapping are considered by the means of parameterized space. As it is implemented on corner-point grid geometries, it casts a promising approach to predict the migration of CO2 plume, and to assess the amount of CO2 trapped by different trapping mechanisms in realistic field-scale reservoirs. To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0343a8a1-822a-4ecc-9387-bb386edabb2d DOI https://doi.org/10.2118/212635-MS Publisher Society of Petroleum Engineers ISBN 9781613999738 Source Society of Petroleum Engineers - SPE Reservoir Characterisation and Simulation Conference and Exhibition 2023, RCSC 2023 Event 2023 SPE Reservoir Characterisation and Simulation Conference and Exhibition, RCSC 2023, 2023-01-24 → 2023-01-26, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Series Society of Petroleum Engineers - SPE Reservoir Characterisation and Simulation Conference and Exhibition 2023, RCSC 2023 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type conference paper Rights © 2023 Z. Zhang, Y. Wang, Cornelis Vuik, H. Hajibeygi Files PDF spe_212635_ms.pdf 1.72 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:0343a8a1-822a-4ecc-9387-bb386edabb2d/datastream/OBJ/view