Intermediate-Scale Experimental Study to Improve Fundamental Understanding of Attenuation Capacity for Leaking CO2 in Heterogeneous Shallow Aquifers

Plampin, Michael R.; Porter, Mark L.; Pawar, Rajesh J.; Illangasekare, Tissa H.

doi:10.1002/2016WR020142

Title: Intermediate-Scale Experimental Study to Improve Fundamental Understanding of Attenuation Capacity for Leaking CO₂ in Heterogeneous Shallow Aquifers

Journal Article · Wed Nov 15 00:00:00 EST 2017 · Water Resources Research

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2016WR020142· OSTI ID:1409795

^[1]; Porter, Mark L. ^[2]; Pawar, Rajesh J. ^[2]; Illangasekare, Tissa H. ^[1]

Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States). Center for Experimental Study of Subsurface Environmental Processes, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Abstract To assess the risks of Geologic Carbon Sequestration (GCS), it is crucial to understand the fundamental physicochemical processes that may occur if and when stored CO ₂ leaks upward from a deep storage reservoir into the shallow subsurface. Intermediate‐scale experiments allow for improved understanding of the multiphase evolution processes that control CO ₂ migration behavior in the subsurface, because the boundary conditions, initial conditions, and porous media parameters can be better controlled and monitored in the laboratory than in field settings. For this study, a large experimental test bed was designed to mimic a cross section of a shallow aquifer with layered geologic heterogeneity. As water with aqueous CO ₂ was injected into the system to mimic a CO ₂ ‐charged water leakage scenario, the spatiotemporal evolution of the multiphase CO ₂ plume was monitored. Similar experiments were performed with two different sand combinations to assess the relative effects of different types of geologic facies transitions on the CO ₂ evolution processes. Significant CO ₂ attenuation was observed in both scenarios, but by fundamentally different mechanisms. When the porous media layers had very different permeabilities, attenuation was caused by local accumulation (structural trapping) and slow redissolution of gas phase CO ₂ . When the permeability difference between the layers was relatively small, on the other hand, gas phase continually evolved over widespread areas near the leading edge of the aqueous plume, which also attenuated CO ₂ migration. This improved process understanding will aid in the development of models that could be used for effective risk assessment and monitoring programs for GCS projects.

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Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE), Clean Coal and Carbon Management

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-06NA25396

OSTI ID:: 1409795

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1410889

Report Number(s):: LA-UR-17-30118

Journal Information:: Water Resources Research, Vol. 53, Issue 12; ISSN 0043-1397

Publisher:: American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 10 works

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