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Effect of Vertical Heterogeneity on Long-Term Migration of CO2 in Saline Formations

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Abstract

For deep injection of CO2 in thick saline formations, the movements of both the free gas phase and dissolved CO2 are sensitive to variations in vertical permeability. A simple model for vertical heterogeneity was studied, consisting of a random distribution of horizontal impermeable barriers with a given overall volume fraction and distribution of lengths. Analytical results were obtained for the distribution of values for the permeability, and compared to numerical simulations of deep CO2 injection and convection in heterogeneous formations, using multiple realizations for the permeability distribution. It is shown that for a formation of thickness H, the breakthrough times in two dimensions for deep injection scale as H 2 for moderate injection rates. In comparison to heterogeneous shale distributions, a homogeneous medium with equivalent effective vertical permeability has a longer breakthrough time for deep injection, and a longer onset time for convection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIRO Petroleum, Private Bag 10, Clayton South, VIC, 3169, Australia

    Christopher P. Green & Jonathan Ennis-King

  2. Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies (CO2CRC), GPO Box 463, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    Jonathan Ennis-King

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  1. Christopher P. Green
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  2. Jonathan Ennis-King
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Correspondence to Jonathan Ennis-King.

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Green, C.P., Ennis-King, J. Effect of Vertical Heterogeneity on Long-Term Migration of CO2 in Saline Formations. Transp Porous Med 82, 31–47 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-009-9498-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-009-9498-7

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