Impact of reservoir wettability and heterogeneity on CO2-plume migration and trapping capacity

Reservoir wettability – the tendency of a rock surface to be in contact with one fluid more than other fluids – can vary substantially from strongly water-wet to strongly CO2-wet. However, the influence of such differences in wettability on the CO2 storage capacity has received little attention. Her...

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Main Authors: Al-Khdheeawi, Emad A., Vialle, Stephanie, Barifcani, Ahmed, Sarmadivaleh, Mohammad, Iglauer, Stefan
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/51085
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author Al-Khdheeawi, Emad A.
Vialle, Stephanie
Barifcani, Ahmed
Sarmadivaleh, Mohammad
Iglauer, Stefan
author_facet Al-Khdheeawi, Emad A.
Vialle, Stephanie
Barifcani, Ahmed
Sarmadivaleh, Mohammad
Iglauer, Stefan
author_sort Al-Khdheeawi, Emad A.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Reservoir wettability – the tendency of a rock surface to be in contact with one fluid more than other fluids – can vary substantially from strongly water-wet to strongly CO2-wet. However, the influence of such differences in wettability on the CO2 storage capacity has received little attention. Here, we studied the impact of reservoir wettability on CO2 plume behaviour and residual and solubility trapping capacities. We also compare the case of a homogeneous distribution of permeability and porosity values within the reservoir with that of a heterogeneous distribution. We found that CO2-wet reservoirs have the highest CO2 vertical migration, while water-wet reservoirs best retain CO2. In addition, less residual CO2 but more dissolved CO2 is obtained in a CO2-wet reservoir. Furthermore, we demonstrate that reservoir heterogeneity reduces the vertical CO2 migration and induces significant horizontal migration, while lower residual and solubility storage capacities are achieved. We thus conclude that both reservoir wettability and heterogeneity significantly impact CO2 migration and trapping capacities and need to be incorporated into reservoir simulations for accurate predictions of both CO2 plume behaviour and CO2 storage capacities. Overall, we conclude that strongly water-wet reservoirs are preferable CO2 sinks.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-510852017-09-13T15:37:42Z Impact of reservoir wettability and heterogeneity on CO2-plume migration and trapping capacity Al-Khdheeawi, Emad A. Vialle, Stephanie Barifcani, Ahmed Sarmadivaleh, Mohammad Iglauer, Stefan Reservoir wettability – the tendency of a rock surface to be in contact with one fluid more than other fluids – can vary substantially from strongly water-wet to strongly CO2-wet. However, the influence of such differences in wettability on the CO2 storage capacity has received little attention. Here, we studied the impact of reservoir wettability on CO2 plume behaviour and residual and solubility trapping capacities. We also compare the case of a homogeneous distribution of permeability and porosity values within the reservoir with that of a heterogeneous distribution. We found that CO2-wet reservoirs have the highest CO2 vertical migration, while water-wet reservoirs best retain CO2. In addition, less residual CO2 but more dissolved CO2 is obtained in a CO2-wet reservoir. Furthermore, we demonstrate that reservoir heterogeneity reduces the vertical CO2 migration and induces significant horizontal migration, while lower residual and solubility storage capacities are achieved. We thus conclude that both reservoir wettability and heterogeneity significantly impact CO2 migration and trapping capacities and need to be incorporated into reservoir simulations for accurate predictions of both CO2 plume behaviour and CO2 storage capacities. Overall, we conclude that strongly water-wet reservoirs are preferable CO2 sinks. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/51085 10.1016/j.ijggc.2017.01.012 Elsevier restricted
spellingShingle Al-Khdheeawi, Emad A.
Vialle, Stephanie
Barifcani, Ahmed
Sarmadivaleh, Mohammad
Iglauer, Stefan
Impact of reservoir wettability and heterogeneity on CO2-plume migration and trapping capacity
title Impact of reservoir wettability and heterogeneity on CO2-plume migration and trapping capacity
title_full Impact of reservoir wettability and heterogeneity on CO2-plume migration and trapping capacity
title_fullStr Impact of reservoir wettability and heterogeneity on CO2-plume migration and trapping capacity
title_full_unstemmed Impact of reservoir wettability and heterogeneity on CO2-plume migration and trapping capacity
title_short Impact of reservoir wettability and heterogeneity on CO2-plume migration and trapping capacity
title_sort impact of reservoir wettability and heterogeneity on co2-plume migration and trapping capacity
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/51085