Modeling of Carbon Dioxide Leakage from Storage Aquifers
Date
2018-06-12
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Abstract
Long-term geological storage of CO2 in deep saline aquifers offers the possibility of sustaining access to fossil fuels while reducing emissions. However, prior to implementation, associated risks of CO2 leakage need to be carefully addressed to ensure safety of storage. CO2 storage takes place by several trapping mechanisms that are active on different time scales. On short time scales, structural trapping is dominant. Over time, the contribution of capillary, solubility, and mineral trapping mechanisms come into play. Leaky faults and fractures provide pathways for CO2 to migrate upward toward shallower depths and reduce the effectiveness of storage. Therefore, understanding the flow and transport processes and the impact of various forces such as viscous, capillary and gravity is necessary. In this study, a mechanistic model is developed to investigate the influence of the driving forces on CO2 migration through a storage formation or a water saturated leakage pathway in relatively short time scales after CO2 injection. The developed numerical model is used to determine leakage characteristics for different rock formations from a potential CO2 storage site in central Alberta, Canada. The developed model allows for preliminary analysis of CO2 leakage and finds applications in screening and site selection for geological storage of CO2 in deep saline aquifers.
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CO2 Sequestration, Leakage, Fault, Gravity Number, Capillary Number
Citation
Heidari, P. (2018). Modeling of Carbon Dioxide Leakage from Storage Aquifers (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/32000