Numerical Modeling of CO2 Sequestration within a Five-Spot Well Pattern in the Morrow B Sandstone of the Farnsworth Hydrocarbon Field: Comparison of the TOUGHREACT, STOMP-EOR, and GEM Simulators

• Published in: Energies (Basel) Vol. 14; no. 17; p. 5337
• Main Authors: Kutsienyo, Eusebius J., Appold, Martin S., White, Mark D., Ampomah, William
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-09-2021
• Subjects: Behavior; Calcite; Carbon dioxide; Carbon dioxide fixation; CO2 sequestration; Computational fluid dynamics; Dissolution; Enhanced oil recovery; Farnsworth Unit; Fluid pressure; Fluids; GEM; Hydraulics; Hydrocarbons; Minerals; Miscibility; multi-phase fluid flow; Neutralization; Petroleum; Porosity; Quartz; reactive solute transport; Reservoirs; Sandstone; Schedules; Simulation; Simulators; Software; Solute transport; STOMP; Vapor phases
• ISSN: 1996-1073; 1996-1073
• DOI: 10.3390/en14175337

The objectives of this study were (1) to assess the fate and impact of CO2 injected into the Morrow B Sandstone in the Farnsworth Unit (FWU) through numerical non-isothermal reactive transport modeling, and (2) to compare the performance of three major reactive solute transport simulators, TOUGHREACT, STOMP-EOR, and GEM, under the same input conditions. The models were based on a quarter of a five-spot well pattern where CO2 was injected on a water-alternating-gas schedule for the first 25 years of the 1000 year simulation. The reservoir pore fluid consisted of water with or without petroleum. The results of the models have numerous broad similarities, such as the pattern of reservoir cooling caused by the injected fluids, a large initial pH drop followed by gradual pH neutralization, the long-term persistence of an immiscible CO2 gas phase, the continuous dissolution of calcite, very small decreases in porosity, and the increasing importance over time of carbonate mineral CO2 sequestration. The models differed in their predicted fluid pressure evolutions; amounts of mineral precipitation and dissolution; and distribution of CO2 among immiscible gas, petroleum, formation water, and carbonate minerals. The results of the study show the usefulness of numerical simulations in identifying broad patterns of behavior associated with CO2 injection, but also point to significant uncertainties in the numerical values of many model output parameters.