This paper summarises the results of a benchmark study that compares a number of mathematical and numerical models applied to specific problems in the context of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) storage in geologic formations. The processes modelled comprise ad-H. Class (B) · A. Ebigbo · R. Helmig · M. Darcis · B. Flemisch vective multi-phase flow, compositional effects due to dissolution of CO 2 into the ambient brine and nonisothermal effects due to temperature gradients and the Joule-Thompson effect. The problems deal with leakage through a leaky well, methane recovery enhanced P. Audigane BRGM, French Geological Survey, 410 Comput Geosci (2009) 13:409-434 by CO 2 injection and a reservoir-scale injection scenario into a heterogeneous formation. We give a description of the benchmark problems then briefly introduce the participating codes and finally present and discuss the results of the benchmark study.

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[1] The long-term storage security of injected carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is an essential component of geological carbon sequestration operations. In the postinjection phase, the mobile CO 2 plume migrates in large part because of buoyancy forces, following the natural topography of the geological formation. The primary trapping mechanisms are capillary and solubility trapping, which evolve over hundreds to thousands of years and can immobilize a significant portion of the mobile CO 2 plume. However, both the migration and trapping processes are inherently complex, spanning multiple spatial and temporal scales. Using an appropriate model that can capture both large-and small-scale effects is essential for understanding the role of these processes on the long-term storage security of CO 2 sequestration operations. Traditional numerical models quickly become prohibitively expensive for the type of large-scale, long-term modeling that is necessary for characterizing the migration and immobilization of CO 2 during the postinjection period. We present an alternative modeling option that combines vertically integrated governing equations with an upscaled representation of the dissolution-convection process. With this approach, we demonstrate the effect of different modeling choices for typical large-scale geological systems and show that practical calculations can be performed at the temporal and spatial scales of interest.Citation: Gasda, S. E., J. M. Nordbotten, and M. A. Celia (2011), Vertically averaged approaches for CO 2 migration with solubility trapping, Water Resour. Res., 47, W05528,

Large-scale implementation of geological CO 2 sequestration requires quantification of risk and leakage potential. One potentially important leakage pathway for the injected CO 2 involves existing oil and gas wells. Wells are particularly important in North America, where more than a century of drilling has created millions of oil and gas wells. Models of CO 2 injection and leakage will involve large uncertainties in parameters associated with wells, and therefore a probabilistic framework is required. These models must be able to capture both the large-scale CO 2 plume associated with the injection and the small-scale leakage problem associated with localized flow along wells. Within a typical simulation domain, many hundreds of wells may exist. One effective modeling strategy combines both numerical and analytical models with a specific set of simplifying assumptions to produce an efficient numerical-analytical hybrid model. The model solves a set of governing equations derived by vertical averaging with assumptions of a macroscopic sharp interface and vertical equilibrium. These equations are solved numerically on a relatively coarse grid, with an analytical model embedded to solve for wellbore flow occurring at the sub-gridblock scale. This vertical equilibrium with sub-scale analytical method (VESA) combines the flexibility of a numerical method, allowing for heterogeneous and geologically complex systems, with the efficiency and accuracy of an analytical method, thereby eliminating expensive grid refinement for sub-scale features. Through a series of benchmark problems, we show that VESA compares well with traditional numerical simulations and to a semi-analytical model which applies to appropriately simple systems. We believe that the VESA model provides the necessary accuracy and efficiency for applications of risk analysis in many CO 2 sequestration problems.

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