Numerical simulation to quantify the leakage risk in a multi-layer aquifer system of pure brine recovery and CO2-enhanced brine recovery: a case study of potassium-rich brine recovery in Jianghan Basin of China

Abstract

Deep brine recovery enhanced by supercritical CO2 injection is proposed to be a win–win method for the enhancement of brine production and CO2 storage capacity and security. However, the cross-flow through interlayers under different permeability conditions is not well investigated for a multi-layer aquifer system. In this work, a multi-layer aquifer system with different permeability conditions was built up to quantify the brine production yield and the leakage risk under both schemes of pure brine recovery and enhanced by supercritical CO2. Numerical simulation results show that the permeability conditions of the interlayers have a significant effect on the brine production and the leakage risk as well as the regional pressure. Brine recovery enhanced by supercritical CO2 injection can improve the brine production yield by a factor of 2–3.5 compared to the pure brine recovery. For the pure brine recovery, strong cross-flow through interlayers occurs due to the drastic and extensive pressure drop, even for the relative low permeability (k = 10−20 m2) mudstone interlayers. Brine recovery enhanced by supercritical CO2 can successfully manage the regional pressure and decrease the leakage risk, even for the relative high permeability (k = 10−17 m2) mudstone interlayers. In addition, since the leakage of brine mainly occurs in the early stage of brine production, it is possible to minimize the leakage risk by gradually decreasing the brine production pressure at the early stage. Since the leakage of CO2 occurs in the whole production period and is significantly influenced by the buoyancy force, it may be more effective by adopting horizontal wells and optimizing well placement to reduce the CO2 leakage risk.