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Geological hydrogen storage in carbonate reservoirs is a promising method for transitioning to clean energy sources. Gas displacement behavior in porous media is critical for evaluating gas saturation, fluid migration, and storage security. Due to the limited studies in this area, a comprehensive experimental and molecular modeling assessment of various gases (CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 , and H 2 ) and their flow characteristics during drainage displacement in carbonate reservoirs is presented. Core-flooding experiments are performed on dry and brine-saturated limestone samples to examine the impact of capillary and viscous forces on differential pressure profiles. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are employed to study potential interactions in fluid−fluid, fluid− rock, and fluid−fluid−rock systems; results indicate that both viscous and capillary forces directly influence differential pressure profiles. The highest average differential pressure is observed with CO 2 injection, while H 2 exhibits the lowest due to differences in viscous forces. The injection of CO 2 also demonstrated the highest water recovery at 42.77%, followed by CH 4 (34.11%), N 2 (29.02%), and H 2 (23.42%). The calculated capillary number values are low (×10 −8 ), suggesting that all gases quickly entered the pores upon injection and acted as nonwetting phases. When the flow rate is reduced to match the H 2 capillary number, the average differential pressure decreases, and water recovery is similar to that of H 2 at 2 cm 3 /min. This indicates that capillary pressure and gas saturation are not significantly affected by the gas type. MD simulations revealed that the contact angle is zero for all systems, confirming that all gases act as nonwetting phases and that capillary pressure variations are due to differences in interfacial tensions and pore radii. Additionally, H 2 adsorption on pure calcite and brine surfaces was found to be lower compared to CO 2 . Through this study, an enhanced understanding of gas drainage displacement behavior and underground hydrogen storage dynamics in carbonate reservoirs is promoted.
Geological hydrogen storage in carbonate reservoirs is a promising method for transitioning to clean energy sources. Gas displacement behavior in porous media is critical for evaluating gas saturation, fluid migration, and storage security. Due to the limited studies in this area, a comprehensive experimental and molecular modeling assessment of various gases (CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 , and H 2 ) and their flow characteristics during drainage displacement in carbonate reservoirs is presented. Core-flooding experiments are performed on dry and brine-saturated limestone samples to examine the impact of capillary and viscous forces on differential pressure profiles. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are employed to study potential interactions in fluid−fluid, fluid− rock, and fluid−fluid−rock systems; results indicate that both viscous and capillary forces directly influence differential pressure profiles. The highest average differential pressure is observed with CO 2 injection, while H 2 exhibits the lowest due to differences in viscous forces. The injection of CO 2 also demonstrated the highest water recovery at 42.77%, followed by CH 4 (34.11%), N 2 (29.02%), and H 2 (23.42%). The calculated capillary number values are low (×10 −8 ), suggesting that all gases quickly entered the pores upon injection and acted as nonwetting phases. When the flow rate is reduced to match the H 2 capillary number, the average differential pressure decreases, and water recovery is similar to that of H 2 at 2 cm 3 /min. This indicates that capillary pressure and gas saturation are not significantly affected by the gas type. MD simulations revealed that the contact angle is zero for all systems, confirming that all gases act as nonwetting phases and that capillary pressure variations are due to differences in interfacial tensions and pore radii. Additionally, H 2 adsorption on pure calcite and brine surfaces was found to be lower compared to CO 2 . Through this study, an enhanced understanding of gas drainage displacement behavior and underground hydrogen storage dynamics in carbonate reservoirs is promoted.
Summary Wettability is a crucial parameter that governs several petrophysical attributes of oil- and gas-bearing rocks. However, the traditional methods to measure the wettability index are restricted to laboratory techniques, which makes that measurement expensive and time-consuming. Due to its sensitivity to fluid-solid interaction and the large contrast between the dielectric constant of oil and water, earlier studies investigated the use of dielectric measurements for wettability evaluation. Nevertheless, these studies mainly focused on the qualitative assessment of the wettability using the dielectric measurements and did not yield a practical and easy-to-implement dielectric-based wettability index correlation. Therefore, the objective of this study is to explore the response of the dielectric dispersion to wettability changes at two water saturation endpoints, full water saturation (Sw=1) and irreducible water saturation (Swirr), and to develop a correlation for obtaining the wettability index from dielectric measurements. A pair (master and sister) of Berea sandstone (BS) and Fontainebleau (FB) sandstone and Indiana limestone (IL) samples were used in the study. The wettability of the sister samples was altered (to make them less water-wet) without impacting porosity before measuring their wettability index. The widely recognized US Bureau of Mines (USBM) wettability index (WIUSBM) served as the benchmark for evaluating the newly developed dielectric wettability index (WIdielectric). Among all measured parameters, imaginary permittivity showed the most consistent and conclusive results, displaying (at frequencies below 200 MHz) a significant drop due to altering the wettability toward more oil-wet. This drop can be attributed to reduced electrical interactions between water and the grain surface due to wettability alteration. A strong linear relationship was also observed between the wettability index of each sample and the drop in its imaginary permittivity as saturation was changed from Sw=1 to Swirr. Therefore, a WIdielectric correlation was developed by incorporating the imaginary permittivity measured at both Sw=1 and Swirr. The developed correlation was able to predict the WIUSBM of the tested samples with R2 of 0.97 and a root mean square error of 0.066. Overall, this study offers an in-depth analysis of the dielectric response to various wettability conditions across different saturation levels, which has facilitated the formulation of an equation for determining the wettability index through dielectric measurements. The findings of this research lay the groundwork for broadening the application of dielectric measurements to additional petrophysical analyses and for more accurate characterization of the fluid-rock and fluid-fluid interactions.
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