Title

Effect of leakage pathway flow properties on thermal signal associated with the leakage from CO < inf> 2 storage zone

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-1-2017

Abstract

© 2016 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Temperature can be used to detect the leakage of fluids from the CO2 storage zone. CO2 leakage is accompanied by temperature cooling due to the Joule-Thomson effect. We investigate the strength of the temperature signals for two scenarios in which leakage occurs either through a leaky well or through a leaky fault. In addition, we identify and analyze the major mechanisms contributing to the temperature signal. A larger pressure drop at shallower depths and thinner caprock thickness can induce more cooling and hence a stronger temperature signal. Furthermore, we study the effect of capillary pressure on the temperature signal as it can reduce the Joule-Thomson effect after CO2 leakage. The hydraulic properties of the leakage pathway, being a fractured or non-fractured matrix porous medium, are investigated using dual-porosity/dual-permeability models and considering identical permeability to the single porous medium case. The leakage rate increases significantly for dual-medium models. The further sensitivity analysis contains the effects of leakage pathway flow properties: fracture permeability, fracture spacing, and porosity. We also extend our models to consider the injection zone as a naturally fractured reservoir, and further incorporate an above-zone monitoring interval as another naturally fractured reservoir as well. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Publication Title

Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology

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