The influence of fracture anisotropy on CO<sub>2</sub> flow

Bond, Clare E.; Wightman, Ruth; Ringrose, Philip

doi:10.1002/grl.50313

Cited by 51 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…15a is the consistency of strike of the fast direction NW-SE. This provides an estimate of the dominant fracture strike, 140 • -160 • , that is consistent with the results from logging data (Iding and Ringrose, 2010) and fracture modelling (Bond et al, 2013). Although the lower limit of delay time measurements remains constant at ∼0.030 s between 2009 and 2011, the upper limit during periods of high injection increases to 0.10 s. The events with larger delay times originate mainly from east of the monitoring well (red colours in Fig.…”

Section: Fracture Strike and Density Using Shear-wave Splittingsupporting

confidence: 85%

The microseismic response at the In Salah Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) site

Stork

Verdon

Kendall

2015

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control

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a b s t r a c tIn 2004, injection of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) to be stored at depth began at the In Salah Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) site and a pilot microseismic monitoring array was installed in 2009. The In Salah project presents an unusual dataset since it is the first major non-Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) CCS project to be monitored for microseismicity. This paper outlines an extensive seismological study using a range of techniques, relying mainly on data from a single three-component geophone. Important information is derived from the data, such as event locations, event magnitudes and fracture characteristics, that could be used in real-time to regulate the geomechanical response of a site to CO 2 injection. The event rate closely follows the CO 2 injection rate, with a total of 9506 seismic events detected. The locations for a carefully selected subset of events are estimated to occur at or below the injection interval, thereby ruling out fault or fracture activation caused by CO 2 migration at shallow depths. A very small number of events (11) with less well-constrained locations may have occurred above the injection interval. However, there is no microseismic evidence that these events are correlated with CO 2 injection and we suggest they are caused by stress transfer rather than CO 2 migration into the caprock. The observed maximum moment magnitude, M w = 1.7, is consistent with estimated fracture dimensions at the injection depth. Fracture orientation estimated using shear-wave splitting analysis is approximately NW-SE, in agreement with fracture orientations inferred from logging data. During periods of high injection rates the degree of anisotropy increases slightly and then falls back to original values when injection rates fall. This implies the CO 2 is opening pre-existing fractures which then close as pressure decreases.This an important proof-of-concept study that proves the value of microseismic monitoring of CCS projects, even with a limited array. We thus recommend that microseismic monitoring arrays are installed prior to CO 2 injection at future CCS sites to enhance our understanding by making baseline and comparative studies possible. This would also provide real-time monitoring of the geomechanical response to injection, allowing operators to modify injection parameters and to help ensure the safe operation of a project.

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Section: Fracture Strike and Density Using Shear-wave Splittingsupporting

confidence: 85%

The microseismic response at the In Salah Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) site

Stork

Verdon

Kendall

2015

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control

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“…[] and the study of fracture networks and their influence at the In Salah site by Iding and Ringrose [], Bond et al . [], and Ringrose et al . [].…”

Section: Practical Models and Their Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Status of CO₂storage in deep saline aquifers with emphasis on modeling approaches and practical simulations

et al. 2015

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Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is the only viable technology to mitigate carbon emissions while allowing continued large-scale use of fossil fuels. The storage part of CCS involves injection of carbon dioxide, captured from large stationary sources, into deep geological formations. Deep saline aquifers have the largest identified storage potential, with estimated storage capacity sufficient to store emissions from large stationary sources for at least a century. This makes CCS a potentially important bridging technology in the transition to carbon-free energy sources. Injection of CO 2 into deep saline aquifers leads to a multicomponent, multiphase flow system, in which geomechanics, geochemistry, and nonisothermal effects may be important. While the general system can be highly complex and involve many coupled, nonlinear partial differential equations, the underlying physics can sometimes lead to important simplifications. For example, the large density difference between injected CO 2 and brine may lead to relatively fast buoyant segregation, making an assumption of vertical equilibrium reasonable. Such simplifying assumptions lead to a range of simplified governing equations whose solutions have provided significant practical insights into system behavior, including improved estimates of storage capacity, easy-to-compute estimates of CO 2 spatial migration and pressure response, and quantitative estimates of leakage risk. When these modeling studies are coupled with observations from well-characterized injection operations, understanding of the overall system behavior is enhanced significantly. This improved understanding shows that, while economic and policy challenges remain, CO 2 storage in deep saline aquifers appears to be a viable technology and can contribute substantially to climate change solutions.

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“…Authors have also used such stress-relationships in combination with dilation or slip-tendency approach (e.g. Zhou et al, 2008;Bond et al, 2013). …”

Section: Stress-dependent Reservoir Permeability and Bulk Modulusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inverse modeling of ground surface uplift and pressure with iTOUGH-PEST and TOUGH-FLAC: The case of CO2 injection at In Salah, Algeria

Rinaldi

Rutqvist

Finsterle

et al. 2017

Computers & Geosciences

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Ground deformation, commonly observed in storage projects, carries useful information about processes occurring in the injection formation. The Krechba gas field at In Salah (Algeria) is one of the best-known sites for studying ground surface deformation during geological carbon storage. At this first industrial-scale on-shore CO 2 demonstration project, satellite-based grounddeformation monitoring data of high quality are available and used to study the large-scale hydrological and geomechanical response of the system to injection. In this work, we carry out

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The influence of fracture anisotropy on CO₂ flow

Cited by 51 publications

References 37 publications

The microseismic response at the In Salah Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) site

The microseismic response at the In Salah Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) site

Status of CO₂storage in deep saline aquifers with emphasis on modeling approaches and practical simulations

Inverse modeling of ground surface uplift and pressure with iTOUGH-PEST and TOUGH-FLAC: The case of CO2 injection at In Salah, Algeria

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The influence of fracture anisotropy on CO2 flow

Cited by 51 publications

References 37 publications

The microseismic response at the In Salah Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) site

The microseismic response at the In Salah Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) site

Status of CO2storage in deep saline aquifers with emphasis on modeling approaches and practical simulations

Inverse modeling of ground surface uplift and pressure with iTOUGH-PEST and TOUGH-FLAC: The case of CO2 injection at In Salah, Algeria

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Product

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The influence of fracture anisotropy on CO₂ flow

Status of CO₂storage in deep saline aquifers with emphasis on modeling approaches and practical simulations