| Authors |
S. Goodarzi, A. Settari, U of Calgary, M. Zoback, Stanford U, D.W. Keith, U
of Calgary
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| Source |
SPE International Conference on CO2 Capture, Storage, and Utilization,
10-12 November 2010,
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
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| Preview |
Abstract
Ohio River Valley is considered a potential site for CO2 storage since it
is in close proximity to large CO2 emitters in the area. In a CO2 storage
project, the temperature of the injected CO2 is usually considerably lower than
the formation temperature. The heat transfer between the injected fluid and
rock has to be investigated in order to test the viability of the target
formation to act as an effective storage unit and to optimize the storage
process.
A coupled flow, geomechanical and heat transfer model for the potential
injection zone and surrounding formations has been developed. All the modeling
focuses on a single well performance and considers induced fracturing for both
isothermal and thermal injection conditions. The induced thermal effects of CO2
injection on stresses, displacements, fracture pressure and propagation are
investigated. Possibility of shear failure in the caprock resulting from heat
transfer between reservoir and the overburden layers is also examined.
Displacements will be smaller for the thermal model compared to isothermal
model. In the thermal case, the total minimum stress at the wellbore decreases
with time and falls below the injection pressure quite early during injection.
Therefore, fracturing occurs at considerably lower pressure for the thermal
model. The coupled thermal and dynamic fracture model shows that thermal
effects of injection could increase the speed of fracture propagation in the
storage layer depending on the injection rate. These phenomena are dependent
primarily on the difference between the injection and reservoir
temperature.
An optimization algorithm for injection temperature is discussed based on
limiting the maximum fracture length and minimizing the risk of leakage from
thermal effects of CO2 storage while improving the injection capacity.
Incorporation of thermal effects in modeling of CO2 injection is significant
for understanding the dynamics of induced fracturing in storage operations. Our
work shows that the injection capacity with cold CO2 injection could be
significantly lower than expected, and it may be impractical to avoid induced
fracture development. In risk assessment studies inclusion of the thermal
effects will help prevent the unexpected leakage in storage projects. The
methodology developed will play an important role in process optimization for
maximizing the injection capacity while maintaining the safety of
storage.
Introduction
Ohio River Valley, located adjacent to the Mountaineer power plant in New
Haven, West Virginia, is considered for saline aquifer geological storage of
CO2. This valley is in a relatively stable, intraplate tectonic setting and the
regional stress state is in strike slip to reverse faulting regime with the
maximum stress oriented northeast to east-northeast. (Lucier et al,
2006).
Based on current sequestration pilot projects and enhanced oil recovery
efforts, evidence suggests that geologic sequestration is a technically viable
means to significantly reduce anthropogenic emissions of CO2 (Solomon, 2006;
Preston et al., 2005; Wright, 2007) Once CO2 is injected, the pressure and
temperature of the formation is affected by the mass and heat transfer between
the injected and in place fluid. These changes have geomechanical consequences
on stresses, displacements, fracture pressure and its propagation. Since
injected induced geomechanical effects could lead to formation or reactivation
of fracture network, rock shear failure and fault movements which could
potentially provide pathways for CO2 leakage, geomechanical modeling plays a
very important role in risk assessment of geological storage of CO2.
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