Use of Invasion Percolation Methods to model migrating CO2 in complex rock-fluid systems
Doctoral Candidate: Mateja Macut
Supervisor: Philip Ringrose
Co-supervisor: Carl Fredrik Berg
Host institution: NTNU
Output type: literature review and summary research topic
CCS is a subsurface geological carbon capture technology, which is being recognised as a necessary element of reducing the effects of CO2 emissions worldwide (Osmond et al., 2022; Ringrose, 2020). It is a powerful tool needed to help meet the meet the long-term global temperature goals (e.g. 1.5°C target) agreed in the Paris Agreement and to reach net zero emissions from the energy sector by 2050 (Holden et al., 2022). CO2 storage requires a reservoir with suitable capacity (enough room for the injected CO2), porosity (percentage of empty spaces in a material) and permeability (capacity of a porous material for transmitting a fluid), as well as a caprock (the part above the reservoir with very low porosity and permeability), which protects the storage site from potential leaking of CO2. The injection must be done below 800 m of depth, where CO2 safely remains in a supercritical phase (Ringrose, 2020). This thesis will be focusing on two CCS sites in Norway: Sleipner and Smeaheia.
The main research question of this topic is how does migrating CO2 interact with complex rock-fluid systems. The objective is a better understanding of gravity segregation of CO2, hydrocarbon (HC) and brine systems by enhancing modelling capabilities of mixing HC and CO2 phase in highly heterogeneous brine-saturated rock (e.g., offshore sandstone with thin layers of shale) coupling Invasion Percolation approach with geomechanics. Similar research topics have already been obtained in the past by comparing various methods, studying the Sleipner case, as one of the pioneering commercial CO2 storage sites.
For example, Cavanagh et al. (2015) studied a combination of basin modelling and a simple Darcy-based reservoir simulation of the Sleipner CO2 plume. Williams et al. (2018) did a comparison of three Darcy’s Law based simulators with different numerical solver implementations. Nazarian and Furre (2022) created a model that describes the distinctive pattern of movement of CO2 plume in Sleipner. One of the latest research projects is Callioli Santi et al. (2022), which is using invasion percolation concepts for modelling CO2 migration pathways in Sleipner.
In this project the Invasion Percolation solutions will be tested against multiphase-flow models of the same system in order to improve the Invasion Percolation formulation for CO2 migration problems. The Invasion Percolation method is a well-known solution to a broad variety of physical problems (Wilkinson and Willemsen, 1983). It separates two phases of the fluid: (1) wetting phase (e.g. water), which fills every narrow part (pore throat), as well as the corners of the pore spaces, while flowing through the porous media, and (2) non-wetting phase (e.g. oil), which displaces the water and fills the pores (pore body) regarding their size, choosing the widest throats, which must be connected to the inlet (Dong and Blunt, 2009; Yu et al., 2018). This approach could lead to much improved methods for handling CO2 migration problems within saline-aquifer CO2 storage systems.
Literature
Cavanagh, A.J., Haszeldine, R.S., Nazarian, B., 2015. The Sleipner CO2 storage site: using a basin model to understand reservoir simulations of plume dynamics. First Break 33. https://doi.org/10.3997/1365-2397.33.6.81551
Callioli Santi, A., Ringrose, P., Eidsvik, J., Haugdahl, T.A., 2022. Assessing CO2 Storage Containment Risks Using an Invasion Percolation Markov Chain Concept. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4282992
Dong, H., Blunt, M.J., 2009. Pore-network extraction from micro-computerized-tomography images. Phys. Rev. E 80, 036307. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.80.036307
Furre, A.-K., Eiken, O., Alnes, H., Vevatne, J.N., Kiær, A.F., 2017. 20 Years of Monitoring CO2-injection at Sleipner. Energy Procedia, 13th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies, GHGT-13, 14-18 November 2016, Lausanne, Switzerland 114, 3916–3926. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2017.03.1523
Holden, N., Osmond, J.L., Mulrooney, M.J., Braathen, A., Skurtveit, E., Sundal, A., 2022. Structural characterization and across-fault seal assessment of the Aurora CO2 storage site, northern North Sea. Petroleum Geoscience 28, petgeo2022-036. https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo2022-036
Nazarian, B., Furre, A.K., 2022. Simulation Study of Sleipner Plume on Entire Utsira Using A Multi-Physics Modelling Approach. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4274191
Osmond, J.L., Mulrooney, M.J., Holden, N., Skurtveit, E., Faleide, J.I., Braathen, A., 2022. Structural traps and seals for expanding CO2 storage in the northern Horda platform, North Sea. AAPG Bulletin 106, 1711–1752. https://doi.org/10.1306/03222221110
Ringrose, P., 2020. How to Store CO2 Underground: Insights from early-mover CCS Projects, SpringerBriefs in Earth Sciences. Springer International Publishing, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33113-9
Wilkinson, D., Willemsen, J.F., 1983. Invasion percolation: a new form of percolation theory. J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 16, 3365. https://doi.org/10.1088/0305-4470/16/14/028
Williams, G.A., Chadwick, R.A., Vosper, H., 2018. Some thoughts on Darcy-type flow simulation for modelling underground CO2 storage, based on the Sleipner CO2 storage operation. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 68, 164–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2017.11.010
Yu, C., Tran, H., Sakhaee-Pour, A., 2018. Pore Size of Shale Based on Acyclic Pore Model. Transp Porous Med 124, 345–368. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-018-1068-4