Sensitivity Study of the Reactive Transport Model for CO2 Injection into the Utsira Saline Formation Using 3D Fluid Flow Model History Matched with 4D Seismic

AbstractThis article reports on the reactive transport simulation work dealing with CO2 storage at Sleipner. The study has been initiated in the CO2ReMoVe European project with one preliminary scenario and is carrying on in the CO2CARE one with a sensibility study. Its main purpose was to simulate on the long term the CO2 fate and to estimate the proportion of trapped CO2 per trapping mechanisms over time. All the simulations were performed using a 2D reactive transport model based on a 3D fluid flow model history matched with 4D seismic

In Salah CO2 injection modeling: A preliminary approach to predict short term reservoir behavior

AbstractA short term performance assessment methodology under development and validation at the In Salah CO2 storage site is presented. The progressive approach first concludes of the necessity to consider a dual media reservoir system at Krechba to fit with gas reservoir production, CO2 injection and CO2 breakthrough at an old appraisal well (Kb-5). To improve gas migration prediction while also considering the geomechanical behavior of the site, an extended geomodel has been developed. Fluid pressure simulation results representative of the dual media reservoir model and of the simple medium upper layer ones (up to the water table) are used to initiate the geomechanical modeling. Comparison of the preliminary geomechanical simulation results assuming a poro-elastic behavior and InSAR satellite surface displacement data are coherent and in the same order of magnitude (∼20 millimeters at maximum displacement)

Long-term simulation of the Snøhvit CO2 storage

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to simulate and evaluate the long-term (1000 years) consequences of carbon dioxide injection into a deep (2700 m) saline formation in the Snøhvit field located offshore in the northern Norwegian Sea. During the 30-year-lifetime of the project, which began in summer 2007, approximately 23 million tons of CO2 are injected through one well.In order to analyse different possible CO2 migration pathways, several scenarios have been assumed and simulated. They deal with the sealing capacity of the main faults and of the saline formation cap rock

Choice of an advection scheme for biogeochemical models

Five advection schemes are compared and evaluated in the context of biogeochemical modeling. Using three schemes of comparable quality that have been used in recent biogeochemical models, we found that new production estimates vary by as much as 30%. Test experiments are presented that explain the large discrepancies in terms of the different types of numerical errors inherent to each scheme. One scheme is suggested for eddy-resolving models and another one for coarse resolution models

Permeability alteration by salt precipitation: numerical and experimental investigation using X-Ray Radiography

The injection of a gas phase through a water saturated porous medium can reduce the water saturation not only by displacement mechanisms but also by evaporation mechanisms. In the presence of brine, this process can induce salt crystallization and precipitation within the porous medium with a risk of permeability alteration. In the field of gas production and storage, the occurrence of such a phenomenon can have detrimental consequence on the well productivity or injectivity. In this work, we investigated experimentally and numerically the effect of dry gas injection on salt precipitation and permeability impairment. State of the art equipment designed for high throughput coreflood experimentation was used to capture the dynamic of salt migration using X-Ray radiography. A set of experiments have been conducted on a sample of Bentheimer sandstone (10mm in diameter and 20 mm in length) as well as a two layers composite sample with a significant permeability contrast. Experiments were conducted using Nitrogen and KBr brine with different boundary conditions (i.e. with and without capillary contact). Results showed that salt precipitation results from the interplay of different parameters, namely pressure gradient, brine salinity, capillary forces and vapor partial pressure. Experimental observations indicate that in the case of dry gas injection, salt systematically precipitates but permeability alteration is observed only if a capillary contact is maintained with the brine. We built a 2D flow model integrating two-phase Darcy flow, capillary forces, salt effect on vapor partial pressure, dissolved salt transport, as well as the different PVT equilibria needed to describe properly the systems. Once calibrated, the model showed good predictability of lab scale experiment and thus can be used for parametrical study and upscaled to the well bore scale

Investigating cyclopentane hydrate nucleation and growth using microfluidics

International audienceThe success of geological storage of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in depleted oil and gas reservoirs relies among other aspects on the efficiency of CO 2 injection, especially in the near-wellbore area where flow rates are high. CO 2 hydrates pressure/temperature equilibrium conditions may be reached in this zone due to cooling associated with the Joule–Thomson effect; such CO 2 hydrate formation may lead to strong injectivity loss and impair drastically the onsite well operations. In this study, cyclopentane hydrates (CPH) were employed as CO 2 hydrate proxy ( i.e. formation at atmospheric pressure) to mimic CO 2 hydrate formation at higher pressure. In this study, the nucleation and growth processes were determined using a droplet-based in-house-microfluidic device. The generation of water droplets in cyclopentane liquid using the co-flow method was achieved. Trains of identical water droplets were stored in a serpentine channel. Each isolated droplet in this channel serves as a separate reactor. The temperature was controlled using a Peltier module to initiate hydrate nucleation at low temperatures. The isolated droplets provided the opportunity to statistically analyze the kinetic behaviors by varying key parameters, such as thermal history and water salinity. Detection of the onset of crystallization in water droplets over time and temperature allowed us to plot conversion curves based on imposed parameters. The effect of thermal history and dissociation temperature was first compared using pure water. This study marks the initial investigation into how NaCl influences CPH formation in microfluidic devices, focusing on isolated water droplets within serpentine tubes. The progression of ice nucleation, ice melting, the onset of CPH crystallization, CPH growth, and CPH dissociation are illustrated in water droplets exposed to changing temperatures. The addition of NaCl in the water during the procedure exhibited a noteworthy impact on CPH formations. With the same temperature profile, salt concentration delays nucleation (thermodynamic effect) and slows down growth. Our findings suggest that higher subcooling accelerates nucleation and growth rates. Initial lateral growth rates ranged from 4.22 μm/s to 2.14 μm/s, with a subcooling of 4.2 °C observed between 2 and 7 min for a pure water droplet

Analysis of Surface Movement through Conceptual and Coupled Flow-Geomechanics Models an Example of Surface Monitoring Assessment for CCS Project

Monitoring of geological CO2 storage sites is crucial for the widespread deployment of this technology to be accepted as a reliable method of reducing CO2 emissions worldwide. The SENSE project aims to develop reliable, continuous and cost-effective monitoring based on ground motion detection combined with modelling and geomechanical inversion, using new technological developments, data processing optimization and interpretation algorithms. In this context, we present a methodology based on coupled flow/geomechanical simulations which, from the uncertainty on the subsurface properties and uncertainties on the measurements, can reproduce the measurements from different surface monitoring tools. By carrying out an uncertainty study on simulations results and taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of each of these tools, a monitoring strategy can be designed such that the tools will record potential displacements at the most sensitive periods and locations, taking into account their respective accuracies. If surface displacements are measurable and sufficiently sensitive to subsurface properties then this kind of monitoring will help to better constrain subsurface properties and possibly subsurface behavior such as plume migration, pressure propagation, and storage capacity. This methodology is applied to conceptual models in order to identify which conditions induce different surface displacements and thus may require specific surface monitoring strategy

Simulation of a Potential CO2 Storage in the West Paris Basin: Site Characterization and Assessment of the Long-Term Hydrodynamical and Geochemical Impacts Induced by the CO2 Injection

This article presents the preliminary results of a study carried out as part of a demonstration project of CO2 storage in the Paris Basin. This project funded by ADEME (French Environment and Energy Management Agency) and several industrial partners (TOTAL, ENGIE, EDF, Lafarge, Air Liquide, Vallourec) aimed to study the possibility to set up an experimental infrastructure of CO2 transport and storage. Regarding the storage, the objectives were: (1) to characterize the selected site by optimizing the number of wells in a CO2 injection case of 200 Mt over 50 years in the Trias, (2) to simulate over time the CO2 migration and the induced pressure field, and (3) to analyze the geochemical behavior of the rock over the long term (1,000 years). The preliminary site characterization study revealed that only the southern area of Keuper succeeds to satisfy this injection criterion using only four injectors. However, a complementary study based on a refined fluid flow model with additional secondary faults concluded that this zone presents the highest potential of CO2 injection but without reaching the objective of 200 Mt with a reasonable number of wells. The simulation of the base scenario, carried out before the model refinement, showed that the overpressure above 0.1 MPa covers an area of 51,869 km2 in the Chaunoy formation, 1,000 years after the end of the injection, which corresponds to the whole West Paris Basin, whereas the CO2 plume extension remains small (524 km2). This overpressure causes brine flows at the domain boundaries and a local overpressure in the studied oil fields. Regarding the preliminary risk analysis of this project, the geochemical effects induced by the CO2 injection were studied by simulating the fluid-rock interactions with a coupled geochemical and fluid flow model in a domain limited to the storage complex. A one-way coupling of two models based on two domains fitting into each other was developed using dynamic boundary conditions. This approach succeeded to improve the simulation results of the pressure field and the CO2 plume as well as the geochemical behavior of the rock. These ones showed that the CO2 plume tends to stabilize thanks to the carbonation in calcite and dawsonite and no significant porosity change appears over 1,050 years. The CO2 mass balance per trapping type gives a CO2 carbonation rate of about 78% at 1,050 years that seemed to be excessive compared to the simulation study of other storage sites. Thus, an additional work dealing with both the kinetic data base and the textural models would be necessary in order to reduce the uncertainty of the injected CO2 mineralization

Simulation of a Potential CO

This article presents the preliminary results of a study carried out as part of a demonstration project of CO2 storage in the Paris Basin. This project funded by ADEME (French Environment and Energy Management Agency) and several industrial partners (TOTAL, ENGIE, EDF, Lafarge, Air Liquide, Vallourec) aimed to study the possibility to set up an experimental infrastructure of CO2 transport and storage. Regarding the storage, the objectives were: (1) to characterize the selected site by optimizing the number of wells in a CO2 injection case of 200 Mt over 50 years in the Trias, (2) to simulate over time the CO2 migration and the induced pressure field, and (3) to analyze the geochemical behavior of the rock over the long term (1,000 years). The preliminary site characterization study revealed that only the southern area of Keuper succeeds to satisfy this injection criterion using only four injectors. However, a complementary study based on a refined fluid flow model with additional secondary faults concluded that this zone presents the highest potential of CO2 injection but without reaching the objective of 200 Mt with a reasonable number of wells. The simulation of the base scenario, carried out before the model refinement, showed that the overpressure above 0.1 MPa covers an area of 51,869 km2 in the Chaunoy formation, 1,000 years after the end of the injection, which corresponds to the whole West Paris Basin, whereas the CO2 plume extension remains small (524 km2). This overpressure causes brine flows at the domain boundaries and a local overpressure in the studied oil fields. Regarding the preliminary risk analysis of this project, the geochemical effects induced by the CO2 injection were studied by simulating the fluid-rock interactions with a coupled geochemical and fluid flow model in a domain limited to the storage complex. A one-way coupling of two models based on two domains fitting into each other was developed using dynamic boundary conditions. This approach succeeded to improve the simulation results of the pressure field and the CO2 plume as well as the geochemical behavior of the rock. These ones showed that the CO2 plume tends to stabilize thanks to the carbonation in calcite and dawsonite and no significant porosity change appears over 1,050 years. The CO2 mass balance per trapping type gives a CO2 carbonation rate of about 78% at 1,050 years that seemed to be excessive compared to the simulation study of other storage sites. Thus, an additional work dealing with both the kinetic data base and the textural models would be necessary in order to reduce the uncertainty of the injected CO2 mineralization