High-resolution simulation and characterization of density-driven flow in CO2 storage in saline aquifers

Pau, George Shu Heng; Bell, John B.; Pruess, Karsten; Almgren, Ann S.; Lijewski, Michael J.; Zhang, Keni

doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2010.01.009

Cited by 303 publications

(365 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…It is natural to ask whether the coarsening regimes of the length scale near the boundary layer are reflected in the time evolution of dissolution flux. Indeed, the dissolution flux exhibits three dynamic regimes as well: diffusive, convection-dominated and saturation [21,24,25,32]. Here we compare these two quantitiescharacteristic length scale and dissolution flux-for both a three-dimensional simulation with Ra = 6400 and a two-dimensional simulation with Ra = 25 000 (figure 7).…”

Section: (B) Coarsening Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pattern formation and coarsening dynamics in three-dimensional convective mixing in porous media

Cueto‐Felgueroso

Juanes

2013

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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Geological carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) sequestration entails capturing and injecting CO 2 into deep saline aquifers for long-term storage. The injected CO 2 partially dissolves in groundwater to form a mixture that is denser than the initial groundwater. The local increase in density triggers a gravitational instability at the boundary layer that further develops into columnar plumes of CO 2 -rich brine, a process that greatly accelerates solubility trapping of the CO 2 . Here, we investigate the pattern-formation aspects of convective mixing during geological CO 2 sequestration by means of high-resolution three-dimensional simulation. We find that the CO 2 concentration field self-organizes as a cellular network structure in the diffusive boundary layer at the top boundary. By studying the statistics of the cellular network, we identify various regimes of finger coarsening over time, the existence of a non-equilibrium stationary state, and a universal scaling of three-dimensional convective mixing.

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Section: (B) Coarsening Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pattern formation and coarsening dynamics in three-dimensional convective mixing in porous media

Cueto‐Felgueroso

Juanes

2013

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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“…Even if the same approach can indeed be used for CO 2 -oil displacements, this paper entirely focuses on CO 2 -water displacement. The increase of the mass-transfer rate is equivalent to a dissolution of a larger amount of CO 2 in a shorter period of time and faster propagation of CO 2 in porous media (aquifers and hydrocarbon reservoirs) [33,34,38]. The large volume of dissolved CO 2 remains permanently in the liquid (at least as long as the pressure remains unchanged) and poses no threat of leakage, which is favorable for geological storage of CO 2 [23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This implies that accurate estimation of the amount of dissolved CO 2 in brine under these conditions requires grid sizes much smaller than 50 cm. For highly permeable and heterogeneous porous media, the required grid size may be too small to resolve even with massively parallel architectures [32,34]. This necessitates the development of simpler models that could approximately quantify the amount of dissolved CO 2 after the injection period taking into account the instabilities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An empirical theory for gravitationally unstable flow in porous media

et al. 2013

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In this paper, we follow a similar procedure as proposed by Koval (SPE J 3(2): [145][146][147][148][149][150][151][152][153][154] 1963) to analytically model CO 2 transfer between the overriding carbon dioxide layer and the brine layer below it. We show that a very thin diffusive layer on top separates the interface from a gravitationally unstable convective flow layer below it. Flow in the gravitationally unstable layer is described by the theory of Koval, a theory that is widely used and which describes miscible displacement as a pseudo two-phase flow problem. The pseudo two-phase flow problem provides the average concentration of CO 2 in the brine as a function of distance. We find that downstream of the diffusive layer, the solution of the convective part of the model, is a rarefaction solution that starts at the saturation corresponding to the highest value of the fractional-flow function. The model uses two free parameters, viz., a dilution factor and a gravity fingering index. A comparison of the Koval model with the horizontally averaged concentrations obtained from 2-D numerical simulations provides a correlation for the two parameters with the Rayleigh number. The obtained scaling relations can be used in numerical simulators to account for the density-driven natural convection, which cannot be currently captured because the grid cells are typically orders of magnitude

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“…Here, we discuss the di- mensionless parameters and a few details relevant to our experiment. Under the conditions of the experiment, the fluids and their mixture are incompressible [15,16]. The maximum Reynolds number (based on b) is less than 10 −3 justifying the use of a two-dimensional Darcy's law.…”

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confidence: 99%

Convective Instability and Mass Transport of Diffusion Layers in a Hele-Shaw Geometry

2011

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We consider experimentally the instability and mass transport of a porous-medium flow in a Hele-Shaw geometry. In an initially stable configuration, a lighter fluid (water) is located over a heavier fluid (propylene glycol). The fluids mix via diffusion with some regions of the resulting mixture being heavier than either pure fluid. Density-driven convection occurs with downward penetrating dense fingers that transport mass much more effectively than diffusion alone. We investigate the initial instability and the quasi steady state. The convective time and velocity scales, finger width, wave number selection, and normalized mass transport are determined for 6, 000 < Ra < 90, 000. The results have important implications for determining the time scales and rates of dissolution trapping of carbon dioxide in brine aquifers proposed as possible geologic repositories for sequestering carbon dioxide.

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High-resolution simulation and characterization of density-driven flow in CO2 storage in saline aquifers

Cited by 303 publications

References 21 publications

Pattern formation and coarsening dynamics in three-dimensional convective mixing in porous media

Pattern formation and coarsening dynamics in three-dimensional convective mixing in porous media

An empirical theory for gravitationally unstable flow in porous media

Convective Instability and Mass Transport of Diffusion Layers in a Hele-Shaw Geometry

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