The Footprint of the CO[subscript 2] Plume during Carbon Dioxide Storage in Saline Aquifers: Storage Efficiency for Capillary Trapping at the Basin Scale
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juanes-tpm-2010 - final manuscript.pdf
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Author(s)
Juanes, Ruben
MacMinn, Christopher W.
Szulczewski, Michael Lawrence
Alternative Title
The Footprint of the CO2 Plume during Carbon Dioxide Storage in Saline Aquifers: Storage Efficiency for Capillary Trapping at the Basin Scale
Date Issued
June 2009
Journal
Transport in Porous Media
Publisher
Springer Science + Business Media B.V.
Citation
Juanes, Ruben, Christopher MacMinn, and Michael Szulczewski. “The Footprint of the CO2 Plume during Carbon Dioxide Storage in Saline Aquifers: Storage Efficiency for Capillary Trapping at the Basin Scale.” Transport in Porous Media 82.1 (2010): 19-30.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
We study a sharp-interface mathematical model of CO[subscript 2] migration in deep saline aquifers, which accounts for gravity override, capillary trapping, natural groundwater flow, and the shape of the plume during the injection period. The model leads to a nonlinear advection–diffusion equation, where the diffusive term is due to buoyancy forces, not physical diffusion. For the case of interest in geological CO[subscript 2] storage, in which the mobility ratio is very unfavorable, the mathematical model can be simplified to a hyperbolic equation. We present a complete analytical solution to the hyperbolic model. The main outcome is a closed-form expression that predicts the ultimate footprint on the CO2 plume, and the time scale required for complete trapping. The capillary trapping coefficient and the mobility ratio between CO[subscript 2] and brine emerge as the key parameters in the assessment of CO[subscript 2] storage in saline aquifers. Despite the many approximations, the model captures the essence of the flow dynamics and therefore reflects proper dependencies on the mobility ratio and the capillary trapping coefficient, which are basin-specific. The expressions derived here have applicability to capacity estimates by capillary trapping at the basin scale.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-009-9420-3
