In this study, we demonstrate the benefits of applying full-waveform inversion (FWI), for the imaging of multi-layer CO2 plumes. We apply 3D FWI, up to 42 Hz, using the 2010 towed-streamer data from the Sleipner storage site offshore Norway. While the 3D FWI method does not aim to replace 4D FWI for CO2 migration monitoring, the properties of the Utsira aquifer at Sleipner, with low stiffness and shallow burial depth, enable effective mapping of the CO2 without the need of a repeated FWI application. Our FWI model and associated images offer a significant imaging improvement in the lower half of the plume compared with the legacy seismic data, revealing vertical CO2 migration routes that have not been observed previously at the site. We show the limitations of reflection-based migration methods for imaging CO2 migration pathways and demonstrate that FWI can improve their detection. The FWI model can support conventional time-lapse analyses by improving the interpretation of known CO2 migration routes, by highlighting CO2 layers with low reflectivity, and by attenuating multiples better. Our analysis suggests that CO2 migration at Sleipner is likely controlled by several vertical communication routes, including chimneys, and linear structures, several hundreds of meters long, that connect multiple accumulations of CO2. Within each layer, our analysis suggests buoyancy-driven, fill-to-spill migration, constrained by the topography of the sealing units. Finally, we conclude that, while simple CO2 accumulations can be monitored successfully using reflection-based migration methods and analyses, multi-layered CO2 plumes will greatly benefit from complementary analyses using FWI.
扫码关注我们
求助内容:
应助结果提醒方式:
