Retardation of CO2 due to Capillary Pressure Hysteresis: a New CO2 Trapping Mechanism

Altundas, Bilgin; Ramakrishnan, T.S.; Chugunov, Nikita; Loubens, Romain de

doi:10.2118/139641-ms

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…7 A variety of indirect effects, including plume evolution and residual capillary trapping, may also be linked to mobility. 52 Future petrophysical analyses for potential CO 2 sequestration sites should include relative permeability measurements on reservoir core samples rather than relying on extrapolations based on prior studies. Based on these results, CO 2 injectivity will be reduced and pressure-limited reservoirs will have reduced disposal capacity, though area-limited reservoirs may have increased capacity.…”

Section: ■ Materials and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relative Permeability Experiments of Carbon Dioxide Displacing Brine and Their Implications for Carbon Sequestration

Levine

Goldberg

Lackner

et al. 2013

Environ. Sci. Technol.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To mitigate anthropogenically induced climate change and ocean acidification, net carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere must be reduced. One proposed option is underground CO2 disposal. Large-scale injection of CO2 into the Earth's crust requires an understanding of the multiphase flow properties of high-pressure CO2 displacing brine. We present laboratory-scale core flooding experiments designed to measure CO2 endpoint relative permeability for CO2 displacing brine at in situ pressures, salinities, and temperatures. Endpoint drainage CO2 relative permeabilities for liquid and supercritical CO2 were found to be clustered around 0.4 for both the synthetic and natural media studied. These values indicate that relative to CO2, water may not be strongly wetting the solid surface. Based on these results, CO2 injectivity will be reduced and pressure-limited reservoirs will have reduced disposal capacity, though area-limited reservoirs may have increased capacity. Future reservoir-scale modeling efforts should incorporate sensitivity to relative permeability. Assuming applicability of the experimental results to other lithologies and that the majority of reservoirs are pressure limited, geologic carbon sequestration would require approximately twice the number of wells for the same injectivity.

show abstract

Section: ■ Materials and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relative Permeability Experiments of Carbon Dioxide Displacing Brine and Their Implications for Carbon Sequestration

Levine

Goldberg

Lackner

et al. 2013

Environ. Sci. Technol.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Consequently, evaluation of seal capacity requires knowledge of the CO 2 -H 2 O capillary pressures. Residual fluid (gas or liquid phases) trapping refers to the retention of gaseous or liquid CO 2 in the aquifer pores due to a combination of hysteretic relative permeability Bennion and Bachu, 2006b, 2007Flett, et al, 2004;Juanes, et al, 2006;Liu, et al, 2004;Pentland, 2008;Spiteri et al, 2005) and capillary pressure effects (Alkan, et al, 2010;Altundas, et al, 2010;Bryant, et al, 2006;Juanes and MacMinn, 2008;Saadatpoor, et al, 2008Saadatpoor, et al, , 2009Saadatpoor, et al, , 2010b. Injection of gaseous CO 2 into an aquifer (continuous liquid phase) and followed by influx of additional water into the continuous CO 2 plume often creates a discontinuous, immobile CO 2 phase.…”

Section: Carbon Dioxide Trapping Mechanisms In Aquifersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laboratory Measurements of CO2-H2O Interfacial Tension at HP/HT Conditions: Implications for CO2 Sequestration in Deep Aquifers

Shariat

Moore

Mehta

et al. 2012

Carbon Management Technology Conference

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Disposal of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in permeable, porous subsurface rock formations (i.e., geological sequestration) has been identified as a viable option for reducing greenhouse gas emissions into the Earth's atmosphere. Potential subsurface systems considered for geological sequestration include depleted oil and gas reservoirs, coalbed methane and shale gas reservoirs, and deep aquifers. Though each of these disposal systems has their advantages, deep aquifers (mostly filled with non-potable or brackish waters) have the greatest potential for large CO 2 sequestration programs primarily because of their relative abundance in most sedimentary basins and their large effective capacities.Successful selection of potential of CO 2 deep aquifer sequestration sites, however, requires an understanding of all physical and chemical trapping mechanisms by which CO 2 may be retained. Principle retention mechanisms in aquifers include structural/stratigraphic (CO 2 immobilization or trapping below an impermeable confining layer), residual fluid (trapped as immobile fluid phase in aquifer pore spaces), solubility (immobilized as fluid phase dissolved in in-situ water), mineral (immobilized as solid carbonate minerals formed from reaction with aquifer rock), and hydrodynamic (CO 2 dissolved in slow-moving water) trapping. While all of these mechanisms contribute to CO 2 sequestration, the structural/stratigraphic and residual fluid mechanisms have the largest and most immediate impact on trapping or retaining CO 2 in aquifers.The effectiveness of both structural/stratigraphic and residual fluid trapping mechanisms is dependent on the capillary pressure characteristics of the aquifer seal and formation, respectively. And, the capillary pressure characteristics are strong functions of the interfacial tension (IFT) properties of the carbon dioxide-water (CO 2 -H 2 O) system. Unfortunately, there is a general lack of understanding of the CO 2 -H 2 O IFTs, particularly at high-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) conditions typical of many potential deep aquifer sites. The vast majority of published CO 2 -H 2 O IFT data were obtained at pressures less than 10,000 psia and temperature less than about 250 o F. Additionally, there are often inconsistencies among the existing data published in the literature, thereby making it difficult to create predictive models.To address these inadequacies in the existing technical literature data base, we conducted laboratory studies to measure CO 2 -H 2 O IFTs using a pendant drop method at pressures between 1,000 and 18,000 psia and temperatures up to 400 o F. Rather than relying on correlations or previously published data, we also measured water-vapor-saturated CO 2 as well as CO 2saturated water densities directly at each pressure and temperature. General observations from our laboratory study include:• CO 2 -H 2 O IFTs demonstrated a strong dependence on temperature (decreasing with increasing temperature);• For a given temperature, CO 2 -H 2 O IFTs were relatively insensitive to pressure with ...

show abstract

“…Several studies have also investigated the impact of capillary heterogeneity on CO 2 movement and trapping in brine‐saturated porous media [ Hesse and Woods , 2010; Green and Ennis ‐ King , 2010; Mouche et al , 2010; Krause et al , 2011; Altundas et al , 2010; Perrin and Benson , 2009; Silin et al , 2009; Saadatpoor et al , 2009]. Using simulations and experiments with analogue fluids, Hesse and Woods [2010] and Green and Ennis ‐ King [2010] have shown that heterogeneity is important in determining the volume of residual trapping to the extent that it controls the volume of the reservoir that comes in contact with CO 2 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Capillary heterogeneity trapping of CO₂ in a sandstone rock at reservoir conditions

Krevor

Pini

et al. 2011

Geophysical Research Letters

229

133

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

[1] The storage of CO 2 in deep subsurface porous rocks is being developed worldwide for the mitigation of emission from large industrial sources such as power plants and steel manufacturing. A main concern of this technology is in ensuring that the upwardly buoyant CO 2 does not migrate to the surface. Simulation studies suggest that substantial amounts of CO 2 can be trapped within permeable sections of a reservoir by capillary forces and intra-reservoir heterogenities, but there is little experimental observation of these phenomena. We report the results of CO 2 core flooding experiments at high pressure and temperature performed to investigate the impact of natural capillary heterogeneity in a sandstone rock on CO 2 saturation buildup and trapping. CO 2 and water were injected through a Mt. Simon sandstone core at 9 MPa pore pressure and 50°C. The core had two regions of distinct capillarity: An upstream 10 cm long region of the core consisted of a relatively high permeability and homogenous sand. A downstream 3 cm long region of the core consisted of a low permeability region characterized by significant crossbedding and a high capillary entry pressure for CO 2 . During a drainage process of CO 2 displacing water, CO 2 builds up upstream of the capillary barrier. Once in place, CO 2 on the upstream side of the barrier cannot be displaced during 100% water flooding leading to trapped saturations that are a factor 2-5 times higher than what would be expected from residual trapping alone.

show abstract

Retardation of CO2 due to Capillary Pressure Hysteresis: a New CO2 Trapping Mechanism

Cited by 8 publications

References 20 publications

Relative Permeability Experiments of Carbon Dioxide Displacing Brine and Their Implications for Carbon Sequestration

Relative Permeability Experiments of Carbon Dioxide Displacing Brine and Their Implications for Carbon Sequestration

Laboratory Measurements of CO2-H2O Interfacial Tension at HP/HT Conditions: Implications for CO2 Sequestration in Deep Aquifers

Capillary heterogeneity trapping of CO₂ in a sandstone rock at reservoir conditions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Retardation of CO2 due to Capillary Pressure Hysteresis: a New CO2 Trapping Mechanism

Cited by 8 publications

References 20 publications

Relative Permeability Experiments of Carbon Dioxide Displacing Brine and Their Implications for Carbon Sequestration

Relative Permeability Experiments of Carbon Dioxide Displacing Brine and Their Implications for Carbon Sequestration

Laboratory Measurements of CO2-H2O Interfacial Tension at HP/HT Conditions: Implications for CO2 Sequestration in Deep Aquifers

Capillary heterogeneity trapping of CO2 in a sandstone rock at reservoir conditions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Capillary heterogeneity trapping of CO₂ in a sandstone rock at reservoir conditions