Reservoir simulation of carbon dioxide storage in saline aquifers, from small to large scales

In the laboratory of General hydrodynamics, we conduct investigation into multicomponent multiphase flows in porous media associated with the injection of carbon dioxide (CO2) into permeable geological formations. In the view of the growing attention to the problem of climate changes and the discussion of low-carbon development strategies for Russia, modeling such flows is in demand. We have developed advanced methods of reservoir simulations of such flows and now apply these methods in fundamental and applied research of CO2 storage in saline aquifers and petroleum reservoirs. Self-similar problems describing the processes in the bottom-hole zone of a CO2 injection well has been solved. A simple relationship for the skin factor of a gas well caused by the deposition of salts during evaporation of water is explicitly obtained. For the later stages of CO2 injection, similarity criteria characterizing the maximum distance of gas propagation from the well in an inclined aquifer have been determined. It is shown that the size of the formation area contaminated with gas depends on only two similarity parameters. A significant attention is now given to construction of effective (subgrid) models of convective mixing underneath the CO2 plume. The prospects of pumping supercritical CO2 and multicomponent flue gases into underground natural gas storage facilities to increase the efficiency of operation of such facilities is investigated. The prospects of carbon dioxide storage in aquifers of West Siberia are investigated. The depositional environments most suitable for CO2 sequestration are estimated. Today, these results are being implemented in the scientific and technical centers of Russian oil companies.