Benchmarking of vertically integrated models for the study of the impact of caprock morphology on CO2 migration

Analysing the role of caprock morphology on history matching of Sleipner CO2 plume using an optimisation method

“…The results showed a good agreement between the approaches in terms of plume shape, although the amount of dissolved CO 2 in brine was different. While previous studies 59,63 showed that by increasing the tilt angle, the plume migrates further, which consequently results in a higher dissolution, the work 38 showed that in tilted models, however, with limited vertical permeability, more CO 2 becomes trapped residually in the bottom layers which eventually results in a lower dissolution. Regarding the computational cost, MRST−CO2lab significantly outperformed the rest.…”

“…Regardless of the phase, the injected CO 2 has a lower density than the formation water in practically all relevant scenarios. Consequently, shortly after the end of the injection period, most of the free phase CO 2 will migrate upwards due to buoyancy to lie beneath the caprock if not trapped below the low permeability formations in middle layers 38 . Therefore, the caprock morphology plays an important role with respect to the plume migration and storage security.…”

“…Several researchers investigated the impact of caprock morphology on the CO 2 plume migration through numerical and analytical methods using realistic 31,47 and synthetic 38,48‐51 models. The impacts of the top surface morphology and geological heterogeneities on CO 2 storage capacity were investigated in a previous study 47 .…”

“…The results also indicated that in models with the highest rugosity values, in which the plume is less mobile, residual trapping is minimum. In another work, 38 the results from the vertical equilibrium (VE) tool in MRST−CO2lab were compared against a number of simulators, including the ECLIPSE‐black‐oil, ECLIPSE‐compositional and ECLIPSE‐VE in a CO 2 storage study in an aquifer. The results showed a good agreement between the approaches in terms of plume shape, although the amount of dissolved CO 2 in brine was different.…”

Statistical based hydromechanical models to estimate poroelastic effects of CO2 injection into a closed reservoir

“…[11][12][13][14][15] Coupled hydromechanical modeling is typically used for evaluation of the poroelastic effect of injection as well as the resulting geomechanical outcomes such as the potential for fracturing in reservoirs, analysis of slippage along faults, surface uplift, and associated seismicity. 8,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Different numerical approaches including finite element method, finite difference method, discrete element method, and boundary element method have been used to address in situ stress changes and rock deformation. [23][24][25][26][27][28] Combinations of different methods have also been developed to address the poroelastic response of injection.…”