Visual investigation of CO<sub>2</sub> dissolution and convection in heterogeneous porous media at reservoir temperature and pressure conditions
Widuramina Amarasinghe, Ingebret Fjelde, Anna Maija Nørstebø Flaata
Abstract
Abstract CO 2 convective mixing in saline aquifers has been widely studied numerically and experimentally. Reservoir heterogeneity is significant for CO 2 convective mixing and experimental studies are still limited. In this study, we have conducted a visualization of CO 2 convective mixing experiments in heterogeneous porous media at reservoir conditions using CO 2 and water. We have used a two‐dimension Hele–Shaw cell, different glass beads of different permeability at porous media, and water solution with pH indicator. Glass beads were packed in a different way (horizontally and vertically) to generate the heterogeneity inside the test cell. We have studied transport velocity deviation due to the heterogeneity and effects of permeability transition zone together with the effects of boundary conditions. It was found out that having a low permeable layer below a high permeable layer restructure the flow of CO 2 fingers and dampens the CO 2 transport velocity. With the vertical permeability zones, having a high permeability zone accelerates CO 2 gravity transport through that zone which is a good representation for a fracture or a fault in the reservoir. CO 2 convection onset is governed by the vertical high‐permeable layer. Boundary conditions have been dominant with the presence of high permeable zones. It also found out that the experimental results presented in this study match with the simulation studies that are available in the literature. © 2021 The Authors. Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology published by Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.