Numerical Modeling for Assessing the Effects of Thermodynamic Properties on CO2 Storage in Saline Aquifers

Abstract

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global CO2 emissions must be reduced by 50 to 80 percent by 2050 to avoid dramatic consequences of global warming. Geological storage of CO2 in saline aquifers is a promising method for reducing atmospheric CO2 concentration. For this aim, accurate modeling of CO2 sequestration into underground formations (saline aquifers) is required. In petroleum industry, normally this is achieved by using compositional reservoir simulators which is computationally expensive and time consuming. To overcome this, an accurate fluid model was coupled to a flow simulator to model CO2 sequestration in saline aquifers. Next, sensitivity analyses of thermodynamic properties (pressure, temperature and salinity) were done on some saline aquifers of Alberta basin, in Canada to investigate the effects of thermodynamics properties on CO2 dissolution in these aquifers. Results show that salinity has the strongest effect on CO2 dissolution in our studied aquifers compared to temperature and pressure effects. Results of this study enable us to assess the potential of each saline aquifer for CO2 storage and therefore help us in selecting suitable injection sites for CO2 sequestration.