Impact of relative permeability hysteresis on geological CO2 storage

[1] Relative permeabilities are the key descriptors in classical formulations of multiphase flow in porous media. Experimental evidence and an analysis of pore-scale physics demonstrate conclusively that relative permeabilities are not single functions of fluid saturations and that they display strong hysteresis effects. In this paper, we evaluate the relevance of relative permeability hysteresis when modeling geological CO2 sequestration processes. Here we concentrate on CO2 injection in saline aquifers. In this setting the CO2 is the nonwetting phase, and capillary trapping of the CO2 is an essential mechanism after the injection phase during the lateral and upward migration of the CO2 plume. We demonstrate the importance of accounting for CO2 trapping in the relative permeability model for predicting the distribution and mobility of CO2 in the formation. We conclude that modeling of relative permeability hysteresis is required to assess accurately the amount of CO2 that is immobilized by capillary trapping and therefore is not available to leak. We also demonstrate how the mechanism of capillary trapping can be exploited (e.g., by controlling the injection rate or alternating water and CO2 injection) to improve the overall effectiveness of the injection project.

[1]  Ruben Juanes,et al.  Relative-Permeability Hysteresis: Trapping Models and Application to Geological CO2 Sequestration , 2005 .

[2]  Julio Enrique Garcia,et al.  Fluid Dynamics of Carbon Dioxide Disposal into Saline Aquifers , 2003 .

[3]  Franklin M. Orr,et al.  Storage of Carbon Dioxide in Geologic Formations , 2004 .

[4]  Carl I. Steefel,et al.  Evaluation of the impact of CO2, co-contaminant gas, aqueous fluid and reservoir rock interactions on the geologic sequestration of CO2 , 2005 .

[5]  Tadeusz W Patzek,et al.  Impact of wettability alteration on two‐phase flow characteristics of sandstones: A quasi‐static description , 2003 .

[6]  Jack C. Parker,et al.  A model for hysteretic constitutive relations governing multiphase flow: 1. Saturation-pressure relations , 1987 .

[7]  Catherine A Peters,et al.  Safe storage of CO2 in deep saline aquifers. , 2002, Environmental science & technology.

[8]  Martin J. Blunt.  An Empirical Model for Three-Phase Relative Permeability , 2000 .

[9]  Klaus S. Lackner,et al.  A Guide to CO2 Sequestration , 2003, Science.

[10]  Stefan Bachu,et al.  Sequestration of CO2 in geological media: criteria and approach for site selection in response to climate change , 2000 .

[11]  Kamy Sepehrnoori,et al.  Reservoir Simulation of CO2 Storage in Deep Saline Aquifers , 2004 .

[12]  C. Doughty,et al.  Modeling Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Injection in Heterogeneous Porous Media , 2004, Vadose Zone Journal.

[13]  Robert J. Lenhard,et al.  A Parametric Model for Predicting Relative Permeability-Saturation-Capillary Pressure Relationships of Oil–Water Systems in Porous Media with Mixed Wettability , 1998 .

[14]  G. R. Jerauld,et al.  The effect of pore-structure on hysteresis in relative permeability and capillary pressure: Pore-level modeling , 1990 .

[15]  Stefan Bachu,et al.  Aquifer disposal of CO2: Hydrodynamic and mineral trapping , 1994 .

[16]  K. Aziz,et al.  Petroleum Reservoir Simulation , 1979 .

[17]  W. Gunter,et al.  Aquifer disposal of CO2-rich greenhouse gases: Extension of the time scale of experiment for CO2-sequestering reactions by geochemical modelling , 1997 .

[18]  A. R. Syversveen,et al.  Methods for quantifying the uncertainty of production forecasts: a comparative study , 2001, Petroleum Geoscience.

[19]  Lincoln Paterson,et al.  Engineering Aspects of Geological Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide , 2002 .

[20]  John Killough,et al.  Reservoir Simulation With History-Dependent Saturation Functions , 1976 .

[21]  Matthew Flett,et al.  The Function of Gas-Water Relative Permeability Hysteresis in the Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide in Saline Formations , 2004 .

[22]  S. Bachu,et al.  Sequestration of CO2 in geological media in response to climate change: capacity of deep saline aquifers to sequester CO2 in solution , 2003 .

[23]  Arne Skauge,et al.  Methodology for Numerical Simulation With Cycle-Dependent Relative Permeabilities , 1998 .

[24]  Stefan Bachu,et al.  Supercritical CO2 and H2S - Brine Drainage and Imbibition Relative Permeability Relationships for Intergranular Sandstone and Carbonate Formations , 2006 .

[25]  B. Harrison.  Las Vegas, Nevada , 2002 .

[26]  Anthony R. Kovscek,et al.  Geologic storage of carbon dioxide and enhanced oil recovery. II. Cooptimization of storage and recovery , 2005 .

[27]  R. Betts,et al.  Acceleration of global warming due to carbon-cycle feedbacks in a coupled climate model , 2000, Nature.

[28]  M. J. Oak,et al.  Three-Phase Relative Permeability of Water-Wet Berea , 1990 .

[29]  I. Akervoll,et al.  Modeling Long-Term CO2 Storage in Aquifer With a Black-Oil Reservoir Simulator , 2005 .

[30]  Anthony R. Kovscek,et al.  Geologic storage of carbon dioxide and enhanced oil recovery. I. Uncertainty quantification employing a streamline based proxy for reservoir flow simulation , 2005 .

[31]  B. Widom.  Capillarity and Wetting Phenomena: Drops, Bubbles, Pearls, Waves , 2003 .

[32]  Sam Holloway,et al.  STORAGE OF FOSSIL FUEL-DERIVED CARBON DIOXIDE BENEATH THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH , 2001 .

[33]  J. Edmonds,et al.  Economic and environmental choices in the stabilization of atmospheric CO2 concentrations , 1996, Nature.

[34]  L. Lackner,et al.  A guide to CO_2 sequestration , 2003 .

[35]  Karsten Pruess,et al.  Multiphase flow dynamics during CO2 disposal into saline aquifers , 2002 .

[36]  Jack C. Parker,et al.  A model for hysteretic constitutive relations governing multiphase flow: 2. Permeability‐saturation relations , 1987 .

[37]  Stefan Bachu,et al.  Deep Injection of Acid Gas in Western Canada , 2005 .

[38]  K. Pruess,et al.  Numerical Modeling of Aquifer Disposal of CO2 , 2003 .

[39]  Susan D. Hovorka,et al.  Testing efficiency of storage in the subsurface: frio brine pilot experiment - eScholarship , 2004 .

[40]  G. Jerauld.  General Three-Phase Relative Permeability Model for Prudhoe Bay , 1997 .

[41]  Martin J. Blunt,et al.  Streamline‐based simulation of carbon dioxide storage in a North Sea aquifer , 2006 .

[42]  T. P. Wellman,et al.  Evaluation of CO2-Brine-Reservoir Rock Interaction with Laboratory Flow Tests and Reactive Transport Modeling , 2003 .

[43]  Kamy Sepehrnoori,et al.  Reservoir simulation of CO 2 storage in deep saline aquifers , 2004 .

[44]  Atul K. Jain,et al.  Energy implications of future stabilization of atmospheric CO2 content , 1998, Nature.

[45]  Martin J. Blunt,et al.  Predictive pore‐scale modeling of two‐phase flow in mixed wet media , 2004 .

[46]  William D. McCain,et al.  The properties of petroleum fluids , 1973 .

[47]  H. Tchelepi,et al.  Onset of convection in a gravitationally unstable diffusive boundary layer in porous media , 2005, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[48]  Carlon S. Land,et al.  Calculation of Imbibition Relative Permeability for Two- and Three-Phase Flow From Rock Properties , 1968 .

[49]  Karsten Pruess,et al.  Reactive geochemical transport simulation to study mineral trapping for CO2 disposal in deep arenaceous formations , 2003 .

[50]  Kent S. Udell,et al.  Nonaqueous phase liquid transport and cleanup: 1. Analysis of mechanisms , 1988 .

[51]  R. Lenormand,et al.  Mechanisms of the displacement of one fluid by another in a network of capillary ducts , 1983, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[52]  Grant S. Bromhal,et al.  Simulation of CO2 sequestration in coal beds: The effects of sorption isotherms , 2005 .

[53]  Ruben Juanes,et al.  Impact of relative permeability hysteresis on the numerical simulation of WAG injection , 2006 .

[54]  M. Celia,et al.  Analytical solutions for leakage rates through abandoned wells , 2004 .

[55]  Francis M. Carlson,et al.  Simulation of Relative Permeability Hysteresis to the Nonwetting Phase , 1981 .

[56]  E. Boyle,et al.  The global carbon cycle: a test of our knowledge of earth as a system. , 2000, Science.

[57]  C. Tsang,et al.  A study of caprock hydromechanical changes associated with CO2-injection into a brine formation , 2002 .

[58]  William D. Gunter,et al.  Sedimentary basins and greenhouse gases: a serendipitous association , 1999 .

[59]  Lincoln Paterson,et al.  Role of Convective Mixing in the Long-Term Storage of Carbon Dioxide in Deep Saline Formations , 2005 .

[60]  Lincoln Paterson,et al.  Onset of convection in anisotropic porous media subject to a rapid change in boundary conditions , 2005 .