Exploring the Physics of Geological Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide using High-Resolution Pore-Scale Simulation

Albert J. Valocchi, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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Multiphase flow of water and supercritical CO₂ in porous media is central to the geologic sequestration of CO₂ within saline aquifers. Quantitative modeling of supercritical CO₂ and water interactions in real rock geometry is important to provide scientifically defensible assessments of the reliability of CO₂ storage and the risk of leakage. While simplified approaches such as pore-network modeling (PNM) can be extremely efficient for simulation of multiphase flow in porous media, the results may be questionable due to the simplifications of the pore-space geometry and flow physics and because certain important phenomena such as snap-off trapping of supercritical CO₂ cannot be captured. On the other hand, the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) is particularly suitable for numerical simulation of complex fluid and flow with complex geometries. We propose to perform direct numerical simulation of supercritical CO₂ and water interactions in CT-scanned 3D geometry from rock cores obtained from the CO₂ injection zone in a large-scale pilot project conducted in the Mt. Simon reservoir near Decatur, Illinois. We will investigate the flow patterns under different conditions during the drainage/imbibition process. Large scale quantities such as the relative permeability-saturation curve will be compared with PNM results in order to identify the validity of PNM in different situations. The computation cost for such 3D direct numerical simulations is very high, and can only be performed on high-end parallel computers such as the Blue Waters. This general allocation request will enable us to gain better understanding about CO₂ and water interactions in low porosity realistic porous media and will provide a unique data set for testing the validity of PNM.