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Title: Dynamic simulation of CO2-injection-induced fault rupture with slip-rate dependent friction coefficient

Journal Article · · Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5]
  1. Federal Inst. of Technology, Zurich (Switzerland). Swiss Federal Inst. of Technology; Utrecht Univ., Utrecht (Netherlands). HPT Lab.
  2. Federal Inst. of Technology, Zurich (Switzerland). Swiss Federal Inst. of Technology; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  3. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  4. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, Nice (France); Inst. Univ. de France, Paris (France)
  5. Utrecht Univ., Utrecht (Netherlands). HPT Lab.
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It is known that poro-elastic stress and effective stress reduction associated with deep underground fluid injection can potentially trigger shear rupture along pre-existing faults. We modeled an idealized CO2 injection scenario, to assess the effects on faults in the first phase of a generic CO2 aquifer storage operation. We used coupled multiphase fluid flow and geomechanical numerical modeling to evaluate the stress and pressure perturbations induced by fluid injection and the response of a nearby normal fault. Slip-rate dependent friction and inertial effects have been taken into account during rupture. Contact elements have been used to take into account the frictional behavior of the rupture plane. We investigated different scenarios of injection rate to induce rupture on the fault, employing various fault rheologies. Published laboratory data on CO2-saturated intact and crushed rock samples, representative of a potential target aquifer, sealing formation and fault gouge, have been used to define a scenario where different fault rheologies apply at different depths. Nucleation of fault rupture takes place at the bottom of the reservoir, in agreement with analytical poro-elastic stress calculations, depending on injection-induced reservoir inflation and the tectonic stress scenario. For the stress state considered here, the first triggered rupture always produces the largest rupture length and slip magnitude, both of which correlate with the fault rheology. Velocity weakening produces larger ruptures and generates larger magnitude seismic events. Heterogeneous faults have been considered including velocity-weakening or velocity strengthening sections inside and below the aquifer, with the upper sections being velocity-neutral. Nucleation of rupture in a velocity-strengthening section results in a limited rupture extension, both in terms of maximum slip and rupture length. For a heterogeneous fault with nucleation in a velocity-weakening section, the rupture may propagate into the overlying velocity-neutral section, if the extent of velocity-weakening and associated friction drop are large enough.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE); Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; PZENP2_160555
OSTI ID:
1581305
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1359163
Journal Information:
Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment, Vol. 7, Issue C; ISSN 2352-3808
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 26 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (4)

Modeling the hydromechanical responses of sandwich structure faults during underground fluid injection journal August 2016
Nucleation and Arrest of Dynamic Rupture Induced by Reservoir Depletion journal April 2019
Dynamic and Quasi-Dynamic Modeling of Injection-Induced Earthquakes in Poroelastic Media: DYNAMIC MODELING OF INDUCED EARTHQUAKES journal July 2018
Fault Stability Perturbation by Thermal Pressurization and Stress Transfer Around a Deep Geological Repository in a Clay Formation journal August 2019

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Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
Seismicity
Carbon sequestration
Geomechanics
Fault reactivation
Velocity-dependent friction