Two-Phase Flow Within Porous Media Analogies: Application Towards CO2 Sequestration
- Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY
Geologic carbon dioxide sequestration (GCO2S) involves the capture of large quantities of CO2 from point-source emitters and pumping this greenhouse gas to subsurface reservoirs (USDOE, 2006). The mechanisms of two-phase fluid displacement in GCO2S, where a less viscous fluid displaces a more viscous fluid in a heterogeneous porous domain is similar to enhanced oil recovery activities. Direct observation of gas-liquid interface movement in geologic reservoirs is difficult due to location and opacity. Over the past decades, complex, interconnected pore-throat models have been developed and used to study multiphase flow interactions in porous media, both experimentally (Buckley, 1994) and numerically (Blunt, 2001). This work expands upon previous experimental research with the use of a new type of heterogeneous flowcell, created with stereolithography (SL). Numerical solutions using the Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) model with the same flowcell geometry, are shown to be in good agreement with the drainage experiments, where the defending fluid wets the surface. This computational model is then used to model imbibition, the case of the invading fluid preferentially wetting the surface. Low capillary flows and imbibition conditions are shown to increase the storage volume of the invading fluid in the porous medium.
- Research Organization:
- National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, Morgantown, WV (United States); Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE - Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- None cited
- OSTI ID:
- 913368
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/NETL-IR-2007-123; TRN: US200802%%794
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 1000 Islands Fluid Mechanics Meeting, Gananoque, Ontario, Canada, April 20-22, 2007
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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