Coupled Two Component Fluid Flow in Deformable Porous Media – Towards a Numerical Model for Geological Carbon Storage

Abstract

Carbon Sequestration by CO2 storage into deep geological formations is a short to mid-term component for mitigatingclimate change while maintaining the stability of the world’s energy systems. This storage procedure will result in a seriesof coupled physical and chemical processes within the geological formation, which may critically affect its integrityas a storage medium. This work presents the development of a finite element model, which is to collaboratively aiddesign, monitoring and risk assessment. The current emphasis of the model development is on ensuring that the inducedgeomechanical behaviour is acceptable within a given reservoir-caprock system. It is a Biot-type model, whereby theinteractions of the flow of the fluids and the mechanical behaviour of the porous media are fully coupled. The governingequations are outlined and solved using numerical methods. For assessment, a simplified benchmark storage scenario ismodelled with realistic parametrisation.