Critical Dynamics of Gravito-Convective Mixing in Geological Carbon Sequestration.
When CO2is injected in saline aquifers, dissolution causes a local increase in brine density that can cause Rayleigh-Taylor-type gravitational instabilities. Depending on the Rayleigh number, density-driven flow may mix dissolved CO2throughout the aquifer at fast advective time-scales through convective mixing. Heterogeneity can impact density-driven flow to different degrees. Zones with low effective vertical permeability may suppress fingering and reduce vertical spreading, while potentially increasing transverse mixing. In more complex heterogeneity, arising from the spatial organization of sedimentary facies, finger propagation is reduced in low permeability facies, but may be enhanced through more permeable facies. The connectivity of facies is critical in determining the large-scale transport of CO2-rich brine. We perform high-resolution finite element simulations of advection-diffusion transport of CO2with a focus on facies-based bimodal heterogeneity. Permeability fields are generated by a Markov Chain approach, which represent facies architecture by commonly observed characteristics such as volume fractions. CO2dissolution and phase behavior are modeled with the cubic-plus-association equation-of-state. Our results show that the organization of high-permeability facies and their connectivity control the dynamics of gravitationally unstable flow. We discover new flow regimes in both homogeneous and heterogeneous media and present quantitative scaling relations for their temporal evolution.
School of Earth Sciences, the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Mohamad Reza
MR
Soltanian
School of Earth Sciences, the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Mohammad Amin
MA
Amooie
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States.
Zhenxue
Z
Dai
School of Earth Sciences, the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
David
D
Cole
School of Earth Sciences, the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Joachim
J
Moortgat