Abstract
Carbon-capture and sequestration (CCS) in geologic reservoirs is one
strategy for reducing anthropogenic CO2 emissions from large-scale
point-source emitters. Recent developments have shown that basalt
reservoirs are highly effective for permanent mineral trapping on the
basis of CO2-water-rock interactions, which result in the formation of
carbonate minerals. However, the injection of super-critical CO2 into
the subsurface causes a disturbance in the pressure, temperature, and
chemical systems within the target reservoir. How the ambient conditions
change in response to a CO2 injection ultimately affects the transport
and fate of the injected CO2. Understanding the behavior and transport
of CO2 within a geologic reservoir is a difficult problem that is only
exacerbated by heterogeneities within the reservoir, for example,
permeability can be highly heterogeneous and exhibits significant
control on the movement of CO2. The non-isothermal effects that
accompany a CO2 injection are also affected by heterogeneous reservoir
properties. These non-isothermal effects can lead to significant changes
in temperature in both the reservoir water and rock, which can also
affect the injectivity and movement of the CO2. This study is focused on
gaining a better understanding of the non-isothermal effects of a CO2
injection and how the changes in temperature will affect the movement
and reactivity of the CO2, as well as investigate the efficacy of using
temperature as a proxy for CO2 breakthrough in the subsurface. iTOUGH2
eco2n is utilized to simulate CO2 injections into a 1D radially
symmetric domain over a range of permeabilities, porosities, and
salinities. Preliminary results indicate that for a modest CO2 injection
rate of 31,500 metric tons/year the exothermic dissolution of CO2 can
cause a temperature increase of up to 3.6oC at the edges of the CO2
plume and the Joule-Thomson effect can cause a decrease in temperature
up to 10oC near the injection well. Additionally, results from this
study indicate that the thermal effects of a CO2 injection, namely the
heat of dissolution associated with a large-scale CO2 injection may be
an effective MMV strategy for monitoring CO2 breakthrough.