Dynamics of convective dissolution from a migrating current of carbon dioxide
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hidalgo_awr_2013_preprint.pdf
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Author(s)
Hidalgo, Juan J.
MacMinn, Christopher W.
Juanes, Ruben
Date Issued
July 2013
Journal
Advances in Water Resources
Publisher
Elsevier
Citation
Hidalgo, Juan J., Christopher W. MacMinn, and Ruben Juanes. “Dynamics of Convective Dissolution from a Migrating Current of Carbon Dioxide.” Advances in Water Resources 62 (December 2013): 511–519. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
During geologic storage of carbon dioxide (CO[subscript 2]), trapping of the buoyant CO[subscript 2] after injection is essential in order to minimize the risk of leakage into shallower formations through a fracture or abandoned well. Models for the subsurface behavior of the CO[subscript 2] are useful for the design, implementation, and long-term monitoring of injection sites, but traditional reservoir-simulation tools are currently unable to resolve the impact of small-scale trapping processes on fluid flow at the scale of a geologic basin. Here, we study the impact of solubility trapping from convective dissolution on the up-dip migration of a buoyant gravity current in a sloping aquifer. To do so, we conduct high-resolution numerical simulations of the gravity current that forms from a pair of miscible analogue fluids. Our simulations fully resolve the dense, sinking fingers that drive the convective dissolution process. We analyze the dynamics of the dissolution flux along the moving CO[subscript 2]–brine interface, including its decay as dissolved buoyant fluid accumulates beneath the buoyant current. We show that the dynamics of the dissolution flux and the macroscopic features of the migrating current can be captured with an upscaled sharp-interface model.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2013.06.013
