Multi-scale modeling of CO2 dispersion leaked from seafloor off the Japanese coast

Abstract

A numerical simulation was conducted to predict the change of pCO2 in the ocean caused by CO2 leaked from an underground aquifer, in which CO2 is purposefully stored. The target space of the present model was the ocean above the seafloor. The behavior of CO2 bubbles, their dissolution, and the advection–diffusion of dissolved CO2 were numerically simulated. Here, two cases for the leakage rate were studied: an extreme case, 94,600t/y, which assumed that a large fault accidentally connects the CO2 reservoir and the seafloor; and a reasonable case, 3800t/y, based on the seepage rate of an existing EOR site. In the extreme case, the calculated increase in ΔpCO2 experienced by floating organisms was less than 300ppm, while that for immobile organisms directly over the fault surface periodically exceeded 1000ppm, if momentarily. In the reasonable case, the calculated ΔpCO2 and pH were within the range of natural fluctuation.