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Evaluation of possible reactivation of undetected faults during CO 2 injection

Journal Article · · International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. Mines Paris, Université PSL, Fontainebleau (France). Centre de Géosciences; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  2. Mines Paris, Université PSL, Fontainebleau (France). Centre de Géosciences
  3. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zurich (Switzerland)
  4. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Geologic storage of carbon dioxide can efficiently contribute to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. Two major hazards of this technology are leakage towards the ground surface and fluid-induced seismicity. While major faults may be detected and avoided during site characterization, undetected subseismic faults could be encountered once injection has started. This paper investigates leakage and reactivation of undetected faults through coupled thermal–hydraulic–mechanical modeling. The simulations are performed using a recently developed sequential simulator, TOUGH-Pylith, that allows to accurately account for the thermodynamics of brine-CO 2 injection mixtures, and to model faults as surfaces of discontinuity using state-of-the-art fault friction laws. The simulator is benchmarked against well-known analytical solutions and subsequently applied to investigate two cases of CO 2 injection injection close to undetected faults under normal and strike-slip faulting regimes. Furthermore, although the scenarios are generic and represent unfavorable conditions, they suggest that leakage could occur and that undetected faults could trigger minor seismic events. Therefore, careful site characterization and continuous monitoring during operations should be always performed.
Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
French National Research Agency (ANR); USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
2274934
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1899777
Journal Information:
International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, Journal Name: International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control Vol. 121; ISSN 1750-5836
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
CO2 geologic storage
Fluid-induced seismicity
Leakage
THM modeling
TOUGH-Pylith
Undetected faults