Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T04:48:51.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The fluid mechanics of dissolution trapping in geologic storage of CO2

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 January 2014

D. Bolster*
Affiliation:
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
*
Email address for correspondence: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Sequestration of carbon dioxide by injecting it into the deep subsurface is critical to successful mitigation of climate change by reducing anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. To achieve this we must understand how CO2 moves in the subsurface. Many interesting fluid mechanics problems emerge. Szulczewski, Hesse & Juanes (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 736, 2013, pp. 287–315) focus on one critical aspect, namely the dissolution of CO2 into the fluid resident in the subsurface and the flow dynamics that ensue. Even for this single problem, an elegant analysis identifies seven behavioural regimes that control the amount and timing of dissolution.

Type
Focus on Fluids
Copyright
©2014 Cambridge University Press 

References

Dentz, M. & Tartakovsky, D. M. 2009 Abrupt-interface solution for carbon dioxide injection into porous media. Trans. Porous Med. 79 (1), 1527.Google Scholar
Gilfillan, S. M. V., Lollar, B. S., Holland, G., Blagburn, D., Stevens, S., Schoell, M., Cassidy, M., Ding, Z., Zhou, Z., Lacrampe-Couloume, G. & Ballentine, C. J. 2009 Solubility trapping in formation water as dominant ${\mathrm{CO} }_{2} $ sink in natural gas fields. Nature 458, 614618.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Golding, M. J., Huppert, H. E. & Neufeld, J. A. 2013 The effects of capillary forces on the axisymmetric propagation of two-phase, constant-flux gravity currents in porous media. Phys. Fluids 25, 036602.Google Scholar
Hidalgo, J. J. & Carrera, J. et al. 2009 Effect of dispersion on the onset of convection during ${\mathrm{CO} }_{2} $ sequestration. J. Fluid Mech. 640, 441452.Google Scholar
Hidalgo, J. J., Fe, J., Cueto-Felgueroso, L. & Juanes, R. 2012 Scaling of convective mixing in porous media. Phys. Rev. Lett. 109 (26), 264503.Google Scholar
IPCC 2005 Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (ed. B. Metz), Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kneafsey, T. J. & Pruess, K. 2010 Laboratory flow experiments for visualizing carbon dioxide-induced, density-driven brine convection. Trans. Porous Med. 82, 123139.Google Scholar
MacMinn, C. W. & Juanes, R. 2013 Buoyant currents arrested by convective dissolution. Geophys. Res. Lett. 40, 20172022.Google Scholar
Nordbotten, J. M. & Celia, M. A. 2006 Similarity solutions for fluid injection into confined aquifers. J. Fluid Mech. 561, 307327.Google Scholar
Riaz, A., Hesse, M., Tchelepi, H. A. & Orr, F. M. Jr 2006 Onset of convection in a gravitationally unstable, diffusive boundary layer in porous media. J. Fluid Mech. 548, 87111.Google Scholar
Szulczewski, M. L., Hesse, M. A. & Juanes, R. 2013 Carbon dioxide dissolution in structural and stratigraphic traps. J. Fluid Mech. 736, 287315.Google Scholar
Vilarrasa, V., Bolster, D., Olivella, S. & Carrera, J. 2010 Coupled hydromechanical modelling of ${\mathrm{CO} }_{2} $ sequestration in deep saline aquifers. Intl J. Greenh. Gas Control 4 (6), 910919.CrossRefGoogle Scholar