Carbon Dioxide In Aquifers Research Articles

Evaluation of the carbon dioxide behavior in a thermal aquifer located at Central Mexico and its relation to silicate weathering

A hydrogeochemical and isotopic study was conducted in the western portion of the Celaya Valley Aquifer, Mexico, to assess the role of dissolved carbon dioxide in groundwater contamination. The partial pressure of carbon dioxide value is used to evaluate a complex hydrogeochemical environment, and the carbon dioxide behavior is used to identify the natural and anthropogenic processes related to pollution sources in a thermal aquifer located in the western portion of the Celaya Valley Aquifer. Results indicate that during groundwater migration from the recharge zone to the center of the basin, a hydrogeochemical evolution from calcium bicarbonated and calcium–bicarbonate–chloride type to sodium–bicarbonate type occurs. During this process, deep fluids that migrate through the fault system interact with the aquifer; these fluids contain carbon dioxide released from the metamorphism of the carbonated basement, although another source is not discarded as the dissolved inorganic carbon typical of meteoric groundwater produced from atmospheric carbon dioxide. The hydrogeochemical and isotopic evidences of delta carbon thirteen, delta oxygen eighteen and delta deuterium indicate that the dissolved content of carbon dioxide in the aquifer is involved in the silicate weathering process that plays a major role during water type evolution. In some cases, during weathering, potentially toxic elements are released in amounts that represent an environmental risk, among which arsenic and fluoride stand out, mainly in depth wells. Additionally, other isotopic and hydrogeochemical evidence indicates a biological source of carbon dioxide in the shallow aquifer, primarily due to the agricultural activity carried out in the entire study area.

Modeling of ex-situ dissolution for geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide in aquifers

Underground carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration is considered to be one of the main methods to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this technology, pure CO2 is injected into an underground geological formation and since it is less dense than residual fluids, there is always a risk of leakage to the surface. To increase security of underground CO2 disposal, ex-situ dissolution can be implemented. When CO2 is dissolved in brine before injection, it significantly reduces the risks of leakage. In this approach, pure CO2 is dissolved on the surface before injection. Surface dissolution could be achieved in a pipeline operating under the pressure of a target aquifer into which the CO2 is injected. In a pipeline, CO2 droplets are dissolved being dispersed in a brine turbulent flow. In this paper, a comprehensive model of droplet dissolution along a pipeline is presented. The model accounts for droplet breakup and coalescence processes and is validated against available experimental data.

Feasibility of combination of CO2 geological storage with geothermal-type water-soluble gas recovery in Yinggehai Basin, China

Carbon dioxide capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) is an important technology to combat global climate change. Carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas, can also be used to extract lighter components from subsurface fluids in a multicomponent hydrocarbon system. In many oil and gas bearing basins, there are high temperature and high pressure aquifers saturated with methane. These aquifers are usually known as geothermal-type water-soluble gas reservoirs. The geothermal-type water-soluble gas reservoirs have great potential for coupled development to harvest thermal energy and natural gases. Additionally, the aquifers can serve as favorable sites for CO2 geological sequestration.This paper proposes a new feasible technology that combines CO2 geological sequestration with geothermal-type water-soluble gas recovery (CO2-GWSGR). This proposed technology injects CO2 into the pressurized aquifer for greenhouse gas reduction and natural gas and thermal energy development. In the Yinggehai Basin, there are rich water-soluble gas resources and some natural gas wells that produce CO2. Based on the reservoir characterization of the Yinggehai Basin, a 3-D conceptual model was designed and simulated using the TOUGH2/EOS7C program. Simulation results show that CO2 injection can effectively enhance recovery of water-soluble gas. Sensitivity studies indicate that CO2 storage and energy production increase with the increases in well spacing and reservoir thickness. Numerical simulation was used to model the impact of factors such as reservoir heterogeneity and injection fluid on thermal energy recovery and CO2 storage. Simulation results show that the economic revenue per ton of CO2 storage under injecting fluid with the dissolved CO2 is approximately 18 times greater than that of injecting pure CO2. This revenue will offset the capture and storage costs of CO2 to a large extent. Considering the economics and the escape risk of carbon dioxide in aquifers, injecting fluid with the dissolved CO2 is the best injection method. The results of CO2-GWSGR technology provide new perspectives and valid technical references for geothermal-type water-soluble gas production and carbon dioxide storage.

Regional-Scale CO2Storage Capacity Estimation in Mesozoic Aquifers of Poland

The CO2 storage capacity estimated at the regional scale provides a preliminary recognition of as far as the possible uses of CO2 sequestration as an option of emission reduction. There has been presented the estimation of CO2 storage capacity for aquifers of Lower Cretaceous, Lower Jurassic and Lower Triassic of Polish Lowland. The Lower Jurassic deposits exhibit the greatest CO2 storage capacity of all the horizons, storage capacity of the Lower Triassic deposits is lower, the smallest capacity was estimated for the Lower Cretaceous deposits. The use of specific capacity maps for carbon dioxide in aquifers has been suggested in order to estimate the potential on national and basin scale as well as the search for prospective areas for CO2 storage.

繰り返し三次元地震探査による圧入ＣＯ２および物性量の評価手法の開発について

To mitigate the global climate change due to excess carbon dioxide emission, geologic sequestration by carbon dioxide injection in the subsurface has been proposed. To monitor and verify the long-term safe storage in the subsurface, 4D or time-lapse 3D seismic technology is the most effective to spatially and efficiently detect the change of fluid saturation and pore pressure in the target aquifer and others. In RITE/METI Nagaoka carbon dioxide injection test field, 4D seismic survey was conducted to monitor injected carbon dioxide as a collaborative research of Japex and RITE/METI. It was the first 4D seismic survey for onshore aquifer injection monitoring in the world.Target reservoir in saline aquifer is at approximately 1100m deep. Carbon dioxide saturation was observed with approximately 6m thick by logging survey. To estimate the saturation zone by 3D seismic surveys, I had to overcome the problems of data acquisition and processing, i.e., 1) irregular 3D geometry in the land 3D seismic surveys, and 2) to enhance data resolution to meet the thinner target reservoir.In order to detect and highlight 4D anomaly zones, for relatively high noise content data, it is inadequate to simply subtract baseline and monitor seismic data as there are no ways to discriminate the noises from geological changes by this volume alone. It turns out that 4D anomaly detectability is improved if supervised pattern recognition technology is implemented in the multi-attributes approach. Estimated anomaly pattern is consistent with the observation of time-lapse wireline data and total amount of injected carbon dioxide incorporated with probability of distribution. It has improved the results of visual inspection of simple math difference of 3D seismic volume.3D data were evaluated using well synthetics data and impedance inversion data to estimate several physical parameters such as porosity and permeability combined with the wireline data and geological constraints. Estimated high permeability zone by baseline data prior to the repeat survey showed a correlation with the detected 4D anomalies.The first onshore 4D seismic monitoring of the injected carbon dioxide in aquifer was successfully conducted, though there were difficulties caused by the irregular 3D geometry and thinner target reservoir. It provides the prototype approach to the similar onshore carbon dioxide monitoring.

Gravity currents in a porous medium at an inclined plane

We consider the release from a point source of relatively heavy fluid into a porous saturated medium above an impermeable slope. We consider the case where the volume of the resulting gravity current increases with time like , this situation is reversed with spreading occurring predominantly downslope for short times. The governing equations admit similarity solutions whose scaling behaviour we determine, with the full similarity form being evaluated by numerical computations of the governing partial differential equation. We find that the results of these analyses are in good quantitative agreement with a series of laboratory experiments. Finally, we discuss the implications of our work for the sequestration of carbon dioxide in aquifers with a sloping, impermeable cap.

A modeling approach for analysis of coupled multiphase fluid flow, heat transfer, and deformation in fractured porous rock

Abstract This paper presents the methodology in which two computer codes—TOUGH2 and FLAC3D—are linked and jointly executed for coupled thermal–hydrologic–mechanical (THM) analysis of multiphase fluid flow, heat transfer, and deformation in fractured and porous rock. TOUGH2 is a well-established code for geohydrological analysis with multiphase, multicomponent fluid flow and heat transport, while FLAC3D is a widely used commercial code that is designed for rock and soil mechanics with thermomechanical and hydromechanical interactions. In this study, the codes are sequentially executed and linked through external coupling modules: one that dictates changes in effective stress as a function of multi-phase pore pressure and thermal expansion, and one that corrects porosity, permeability, and capillary pressure for changes in stress. The capability of a linked TOUGH-FLAC simulator is demonstrated on two complex coupled problems related to injection and storage of carbon dioxide in aquifers and to disposal of nuclear waste in unsaturated fractured porous media.

96/02031 Disposal of carbon dioxide in aquifers in the U.S.

96/02031 Disposal of carbon dioxide in aquifers in the U.S.

Disposal of carbon dioxide in aquifers in the U.S.

Deep saline aquifers were investigated as potential disposal sites for CO 2. The capacity of deep aquifers for CO 2 disposal in the U.S. is highly uncertain. A rough estimate, derived from global estimates, is 5–500 Gt of CO 2. Saline aquifers underlie the regions in the U.S. where most utility power plants are situated. Therefore, approximately 65 percent of CO 2 from power plants could possibly be injected directly into deep saline aquifers below these plants, without the need for long pipelines.

Investigations regarding the storage of carbon dioxide in aquifers in the Netherlands

This paper presents the results of investigations, on the technical feasibility, limiting geological conditions and consequences of carbon dioxide storage in aquifers. The physical processes that arise when CO 2 is stored in an aquifer were investigated, the geochemical and enviromnmental aspects were considered and the underground storage capacity in the Netherlands for CO 2 is estimated. Two hypothetical CO 2 storage reservoirs are considered in order to estimate their potential for long-term storage of CO 2.