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Numerical modeling of two-phase flow in deformable porous media: application to CO\(_2\) injection analysis in the Otway Basin, Australia

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Abstract

We examined the two-phase hydro-mechanical coupled process for subsurface applications. First, we exclusively derived governing equations for capillary pressure of the wetting fluid and pressure of the non-wetting fluid as a primary variable to make use of the global finite element model in the two-phase flow system. For the coupling process based on the derivation, we developed a module to couple the two-phase flow and the mechanical deformation for numerical modeling. For the verification of the coupling module, we solved a benchmark problem, which has an analytical solution for a single-phase hydro-mechanical system. To compare the results with those produced with the same coupling scheme of an existing module, we addressed the same benchmark problem with TOUGH–FLAC. After verification, we demonstrated the module for the two-phase hydro-mechanical coupled application of CO\(_2\) storage at the field scale, the Otway Basin, Australia. The formation of caprock and reservoir in lithology had a significant effect on the movement of the CO\(_2\) plume, providing a predominant pathway. Based on the mechanical analysis at the core of the CO\(_2\) plume, the amount of pore pressure increase during the CO\(_2\) injection period did not lead to noticeable damage in the formation.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by Basic Research Program at Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM, 20-3414, 20-3413-1) and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (NRF-2017M2A8A5014857 and No. 2020M2C9A1062949). We thank CO2CRC for collaboration. The additional support concerning numerical methods development and implementation into the OpenGeoSys platform through the GeomInt project funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) under grant 03G0866A is highly acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Environment Research Laboratory, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), 111 Daedeok-daero 989 beon-gil, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34057, Korea

    Taehyun Kim

  2. Deep Subsurface Research Center, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), 124 Gwahang-no, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34132, Korea

    Chan-Hee Park, Eui-Seob Park, Jung-Wook Park & Yong-Bok Jung

  3. Renewable Energy Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 2-2-9 Machiikedai, Koriyama, Fukushima, 963-0298, Japan

    Norihiro Watanabe

  4. Environmental Informatics, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), 15 Permoser Str., 04318, Leipzig, Germany

    Olaf Kolditz

  5. Applied Environmental Systems Analysis at Technical University Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Olaf Kolditz

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  1. Taehyun Kim
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Kim, T., Park, CH., Watanabe, N. et al. Numerical modeling of two-phase flow in deformable porous media: application to CO\(_2\) injection analysis in the Otway Basin, Australia. Environ Earth Sci 80, 121 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-021-09411-1

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