Density-Driven CO2 Dissolution in Depleted Gas Reservoirs with Bottom Aquifers

Abstract

Depleted gas reservoirs with bottom water show significant potential for long-term CO2 storage. The residual gas influences mass-transfer dynamics, further affecting CO2 dissolution and convection in porous media. In this study, we conducted a series of numerical simulations to explore how residual-gas mixtures impact CO2 dissolution trapping. Moreover, we analyzed the CO2 dissolution rate at various stages and delineated the initiation and decline of convection in relation to gas composition, thereby quantifying the influence of residual-gas mixtures. The findings elucidate that the temporal evolution of the Sherwood number observed in the synthetic model incorporating CTZ closely parallels that of the single-phase model, but the order of magnitude is markedly higher. The introduction of CTZ serves to augment gravity-induced convection and expedites the dissolution of CO2, whereas the presence of residual-gas mixtures exerts a deleterious impact on mass transfer. The escalation of residual gas content concomitantly diminishes the partial pressure and solubility of CO2. Consequently, there is an alleviation of the concentration and density differentials between saturated water and fresh water, resulting in the attenuation of the driving force governing CO2 diffusion and convection. This leads to a substantial reduction in the rate of CO2 dissolution, primarily governed by gravity-induced fingering, thereby manifesting as a delay in the onset and decay time of convection, accompanied by a pronounced decrement in the maximum Sherwood number. In the field-scale simulation, the injected CO2 improves the reservoir pressure, further pushing more gas to the producers. However, due to the presence of CH4 in the post-injection process, the capacity for CO2 dissolution is reduced.