Bulletin of the American Physical Society
72nd Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics
Volume 64, Number 13
Saturday–Tuesday, November 23–26, 2019; Seattle, Washington
Session B38: Porous Media Flow CO2 Sequestration and Dispersion |
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Chair: Kenneth T. Christensen, University of Notre Dame Room: 620 |
Saturday, November 23, 2019 4:40PM - 4:53PM |
B38.00001: $CO_2$ sequestration via pressure driven displacement experiments on fluid-gas plugs in a capillary tube Sravya Sasetty, Thomas Ward This talk focuses on experiments conducted to further our understanding on the feasibility of carbon sequestration using a chemical reaction between $CO_2$ gas and aqueous $Ca(OH)_2$ which produces $CaCO_3$ precipitates. Experiments were performed in a capillary tube (dia $\approx$ 800 $\mu$m) by displacing liquid plugs of different volumes containing $Ca(OH)_2$ ($0\leq c \leq20$ mol m$^{-3}$) dissolved in aqueous glycerol solution using $CO_2$ gas at pressures 0.2 psig $\leq$ $P$ $\leq$ 1.0 psig. A CCD camera captured the displaced and displacing fluid interfaces and an in-house MATLAB code was used to measure both the mean $U_m$ and tip $U_t$ velocities. Subsequently, we measure the film thickness using the expression $m=1-U_m/U_t$ where $m$ is a measure of displaced fluid still remaining inside the tube. Surface tension values obtained using an in-house pendant drop tensiometer were used to calculate the capillary number $Ca$. We report the $m$ versus $Ca$ trends observed in our experiments and compare them against immiscible fluid displacement classical results. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, November 23, 2019 4:53PM - 5:06PM |
B38.00002: Resolving the pore-scale dynamics of multiphase flow of supercritical CO2 and water in a 2D circular porous micromodel using high-speed microscopic PIV Yaofa Li, Gianluca Blois, Kenneth Christensen Multiphase flow of supercritical CO$_2$ and water in porous media is relevant to geologic carbon sequestration and enhanced oil recovery, among many other applications in the energy and environmental sectors. After nearly two decades of research, it is now apparent that many macroscopic flow behaviors are controlled by pore-scale physics down to the micrometer scale. Recent evidence suggested that transient flow events such as Haines jumps, occurring on the time scale of milliseconds, and the associated dynamic effects, can greatly influence the accuracy of predictive models if not accounted for. Moreover, wetting properties of the porous matrix pose a strong control on the observed physics and dynamics, thus challenging its microscopic and macroscopic descriptions. To this end, the pore-scale flow of water and CO$_2$ is quantified using high-speed micro-PIV under reservoir-relevant conditions in a 2D circular micromodel featuring randomly distributed pillars and variable wettability. Resolving the flow is enabled by the very high temporal and spatial resolutions of the measurements. Statistical analysis during both steady and transient flows is performed to gain further insight into the intermittent behaviors as well as to quantify the effects of wettability on such behaviors. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, November 23, 2019 5:06PM - 5:19PM |
B38.00003: Dispersive entrainment in gravity currents in layered porous media Chunendra K. Sahu, Jerome A. Neufeld We present experimental results to quantify mixing in gravity currents in layered porous media occurring due to dispersion between dense and light fluids. Dye-attenuation based laboratory experiments were performed in homogeneous medium and heterogeneous medium consisting of two or four layers of distinct permeabilities. These experimental results show that the effects of mixing are more prominent closer to the nose and less prevalent towards the source location. In layered media, the volume of entrainment is much higher than that in the homogeneous medium due to flow instabilities like over-riding and Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities, which result in higher mixing rates. These experimental results motivate a general mathematical model in which we exploit the large aspect ratio of these currents to formulate a depth-averaged model of the evolution of the mass and buoyancy. We assume that the entrainment of ambient fluid into the gravity current can be parameterised by the mean horizontal velocity and an entrainment coefficient. Based on our experimental measurements, we quantify the dependence of the dispersive entrainment on the number of layers and their permeabilities. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, November 23, 2019 5:19PM - 5:32PM |
B38.00004: Some effects of cross-bedding on tracer dispersion in porous formations Neeraja Bhamidipati, Andrew Woods The sequential deposition of sediment in fluvial settings often leads to structures known as cross-bedding, in which the geological strata are aligned at an angle to the horizontal and consist of alternating interbedded layers of fine and course sediment. This leads to anisotropy in the permeability, which tends to be substantially higher in the along-bed direction. Over time, many such layers build up leading to highly heterogeneous permeable rocks. Many such formations have relatively high permeability and can be ideal candidates for carbon sequestration or may be involved in the subsurface hydrological system, and so there is considerable interest in the flow patterns which arise through such formations. We present a series of numerical calculations of the spreading of a pulse of tracer through such formations, based on the pattern of such heterogeneity from a number of rock outcrops. We analyse these calculations and develop some low order models of the controls on the dispersion and spreading of a cloud of tracer as it moves downstream. Our models have relevance for interpretation of tracer tests for groundwater flows and also in interpreting patterns of flow during carbon sequestration. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, November 23, 2019 5:32PM - 5:45PM |
B38.00005: Dissolution-driven convection of partially miscible fluids in porous media Ching-Yao Chen, Qian Li, Wei Hua Cai, Eckart Meiburg Dissolution-driven convection produced at a free interface~between~CO2 and~brine~in porous media is numerically studied to mimic the complex diffusion and flow process in the~geological sequestration of CO2. A Darcy-Cahn-Hilliard model~with~a particular~free energy distribution is employed to~simulate~the partially miscible feature~between the~CO2 and~the brine.~Simulations reveal that the evolution of the~CO2 plume~exhibitsseveral~distinct stages, such~as triggering, growing, merging and damping.~Consequently, for the temporal~development~of the solute flux~we can distinguish~three~major time periods, such as~free convection,~constrained convection and~shutdown. In the~free convection period, the time-averaged solute flux decreases with Rayleigh number.~On the other hand,~the solute flux is independent of the Rayleigh number~in the periods of constrained convection and~shutdown.~Correlations of the~solute flux~and the~Rayleigh~number are proposed based on the simulations, which are able to~predict the solute flux and the dissolved quantity of CO2 into brine.~~ [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, November 23, 2019 5:45PM - 5:58PM |
B38.00006: Modeling solutal convection in porous media: from pore to Darcy scale Marc Hesse, Baole Wen, Sahar Bakhshian, Seyyed Hosseini We model the transport process of convective carbon dioxide dissolution in porous media on both pore and Darcy scales. Numerical simulations of the Navier-Stokes equations are performed in a two-dimensional granular packing with constant porosity. We vary the driving force by changing the grain/pore size and the density difference to explore the effect of mechanical dispersion on the convective pattern and flux. We upscale the problem and then perform the Darcy-scale simulations with Fickian mechanical dispersion. The Darcy model reproduces both the trend in the convective pattern and quantitative fluxes of the pore-scale results, via adjusting the longitudinal dispersivity and the anisotropy of mechanical dispersion. Our simulations show the flux recovers a linear scaling with reduced coefficient as dispersion becomes dominant, consistent with the recent laboratory experiments. sHowever, sub-linear flux scaling arises either in a transitional regime where diffusion and dispersion are comparable or if grains become too coarse. In this case, the pore-scale simulations show that convective up- and downwellings arise in individual pores. This leads to additional mixing not accounted for in Fickian dispersion model on the Darcy scale. The buoyancy-driven pore-scale mixing observed here therefore has different characteristics from mixing processes in pressure-driven flows and requires a new approach to upscale them to the Darcy scale. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, November 23, 2019 5:58PM - 6:11PM |
B38.00007: The effect of non-uniform poroelastic reservoir geometry on the propagation of a buoyant gravity current Adam Butler, Alex Copley, Jerome Neufeld Gravity currents in confined porous media occur in a variety of geological settings, with CO$_{2}$ storage one of particular current importance. How the CO$_{2}$ current and the porous medium develop over time is sensitive in particular to the pressure in the ambient fluid. This is set by compressibility and poroelastic deformation of the porous medium, and in this manner the current may experience the complex geometry of the domain. Here we model the flow of a gravity current injected into such a poroelastic medium, exploiting the aspect ratio of a typical aquifer in order to vertically average the flow and medium properties across the domain. We derive coupled advection-diffusion equations for the injected and ambient phases and focus on the ambient phase in the limit of large Young's modulus. Using a simple elastic-layer model, we incorporate the response to deformation from the overburden and calculate the diffusion of pore pressure away from the injection point as well as the resulting deformation transmitted to the surface. As a specific case study, we apply our model to an aquifer with converging lid and basement in order to investigate the effect of non-uniform reservoir geometry on propagation. [Preview Abstract] |
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