Modelling the flow of CO2 through heterogeneous porous media during carbon sequestration
25/05/2023
IPGP - Îlot Cuvier
14:00
Séminaires Dynamique des fluides géologiques
Salle 310
Graham Benham
University College Dublin
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) refers to capturing CO2 at source (e.g. power plants and factories) and injecting it into porous geological reservoirs to be sequestered (stored), either by dissolution or trapping in the rock pores and boundaries. In this talk I will discuss how the migration of CO2 within a porous aquifer is affected by the heterogeneous and anisotropic properties of the medium. In particular, I’ll discuss how small scale capillary forces are responsible for rearranging the saturation of CO2 into high permeability layers, thereby accelerating migration speeds by up to 200%. Furthermore, since field measurements of heterogeneities are often sparse or incomplete, I’ll discuss how uncertainty in such measurements manifests as uncertainty in the macroscale flow predictions. I’ll also mention how anisotropy can affect the early and late time dynamics of a CO2 plume, and the potential consequences for long term storage.