Simulation of CO2 Injection in Porous Media with Structural Deformation Effect

Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration is one of the most attractive methods to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere by injecting it into the geological formations. Furthermore, it is also an effective mechanism for enhanced oil recovery. Simulation of CO2 injection based on a suitable modeling is very important for explaining the fluid flow behavior of CO2 in a reservoir. Increasing of CO2 injection may cause a structural deformation of the medium. The structural deformation modeling in carbon sequestration is useful to evaluate the medium stability to avoid CO2 leakage to the atmosphere. Therefore, it is important to include such effect into the model. The purpose of this study is to simulate the CO2 injection in a reservoir. The numerical simulations of two-phase flow in homogeneous and heterogeneous porous media are presented. Also, the effects of gravity and capillary pressure are considered. IMplicit Pressure Explicit Saturation (IMPES) and IMplicit Pressure-Displacements and an Explicit Saturation (IMPDES) schemes are used to solve the problems under consideration. Various numerical examples were simulated and divided into two parts of the study. The numerical results demonstrate the effects of buoyancy and capillary pressure as well as the permeability value and its distribution in the domain. Some conclusions that could be derived from the numerical results are the buoyancy of CO2 is driven by the density difference, the CO2 saturation profile (rate and distribution) are affected by the permeability distribution and its value, and the displacements of the porous medium go to constant values at least six to eight months (on average) after injection. Furthermore, the simulation of CO2 injection provides intuitive knowledge and a better understanding of the fluid flow behavior of CO2 in the subsurface with the deformation effect of the porous medium.