Numerical investigation of multiphase Darcy-Forchheimer flow and contaminant transport during SO₂ co-injection with CO₂ in deep saline aquifers

Zhang, Andi

Title:

Numerical investigation of multiphase Darcy-Forchheimer flow and contaminant transport during SO₂ co-injection with CO₂ in deep saline aquifers

dc.contributor.advisor	Aral, Mustafa M.
dc.contributor.author	Zhang, Andi
dc.contributor.committeeMember	Stieglitz, Marc
dc.contributor.committeeMember	Luo, Jian
dc.contributor.committeeMember	Guan, Jiabao
dc.contributor.committeeMember	Stieglitz, Marc
dc.contributor.committeeMember	Luo, Jian
dc.contributor.committeeMember	Uzer, Turgay
dc.contributor.department	Civil and Environmental Engineering
dc.date.accessioned	2013-09-20T13:26:05Z
dc.date.available	2013-09-20T13:26:05Z
dc.date.created	2013-08
dc.date.issued	2013-06-24
dc.date.submitted	August 2013
dc.date.updated	2013-09-20T13:26:05Z
dc.description.abstract	Of all the strategies to reduce carbon emissions, carbon dioxide (CO₂) geological sequestration is an immediately available option for removing large amounts of the gas from the atmosphere. However, our understanding of the transition behavior between Forchheimer and Darcy flow through porous media during CO₂ injection is currently very limited. In addition, the kinetic mass transfer of SO₂ and CO₂ from CO₂ stream to the saline and the fully coupling between the changes of porosity and permeability and multiphase flow are two significant dimensions to investigate the brine acidification and the induced porosity and permeability changes due to SO₂ co-injection with CO₂. Therefore, this dissertation develops a multiphase flow, contaminant transport and geochemical model which includes the kinetic mass transfer of SO₂ into deep saline aquifers and obtains the critical Forchheimer number for both water and CO₂ by using the experimental data in the literature. The critical Forchheimer numbers and the multiphase flow model are first applied to analyze the application problem involving the injection of CO₂ into deep saline aquifers. The results show that the Forchheimer effect would result in higher displacement efficiency with a magnitude of more than 50% in the Forchheimer regime than that for Darcy flow, which could increase the storage capacity for the same injection rate and volume of a site. Another merit for the incorporation of Forchheimer effect is that more CO₂ would be accumulated in the lower half of the domain and lower pressure would be imposed on the lower boundary of the cap-rock. However, as a price for the advantages mentioned above, the injection pressure required in Forchheimer flow would be higher than that for Darcy flow. The fluid flow and contaminant transport and geochemical model is then applied to analyze the brine acidification and induced porosity and permeability changes due to SO₂ co-injection. The results show that the co-injection of SO₂ with CO₂ would lead to a substantially acid zone near the injecting well and it is important to include the kinetic dissolution of SO₂ from the CO₂ stream to the water phase into the simulation models, otherwise considerable errors would be introduced for the equilibrium assumption. This study provides a useful tool for future analysis and comprehension of multiphase Darcy-Forchheimer flow and brine acidification of CO₂ injection into deep saline aquifers. Results from this dissertation have practical use for scientists and engineers concerned with the description of flow behavior, and transport and fate of SO₂ during SO₂ co-injection with CO₂ in deep saline aquifers.
dc.description.degree	Ph.D.
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/1853/49065
dc.language.iso	en_US
dc.publisher	Georgia Institute of Technology
dc.subject	Darcy-Forchheimer flow
dc.subject	Multiphase flow
dc.subject	Critical Forchheimer number
dc.subject	Deep saline aquifers
dc.subject	Contaminant transport
dc.subject	CO₂ sequestration
dc.subject	SO₂ co-injection
dc.subject.lcsh	Darcy's law
dc.subject.lcsh	Aquifers
dc.subject.lcsh	Saline waters
dc.subject.lcsh	Carbon dioxide
dc.subject.lcsh	Carbon dioxide Environmental aspects
dc.subject.lcsh	Carbon dioxide mitigation
dc.subject.lcsh	Carbon sequestration
dc.subject.lcsh	Geochemistry
dc.title	Numerical investigation of multiphase Darcy-Forchheimer flow and contaminant transport during SO₂ co-injection with CO₂ in deep saline aquifers
dc.type	Text
dc.type.genre	Dissertation
dspace.entity.type	Publication
local.contributor.corporatename	School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
local.contributor.corporatename	College of Engineering
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication	88639fad-d3ae-4867-9e7a-7c9e6d2ecc7c
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication	7c022d60-21d5-497c-b552-95e489a06569
thesis.degree.level	Doctoral