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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 24488

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Seyed M. Shariatipour

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Guest Editor

Center for Fluid and Complex Systems, Coventry University, Coventry CV1 5FB, UK
Interests: reservoir simulation; geological carbon dioxide storage; multiphase flow; flow in porous media
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Mohammadreza Bagheri

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Faculty of Petroleum and Petrochemical Engineering, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar 9617976487, Iran
Interests: reservoir engineering; reactive transport modeling; geomechanical modeling; CO₂ storage
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Increases in the level of the global warming imperil the world’s ecosystem. Changes in climate patterns lead to an increase in the frequency of natural disasters such as droughts, heat waves, floods, and hurricanes. These phenomena are already known to be directly linked to increases in the average global temperature. The emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere from anthropogenic activities is considered to be the main reason for the increasing global warming. It is predicted that maintaining the current rate of increase in global warming would result in a 1.5 °C increase in the average global temperature between the years 2030 and 2052. Therefore, this issue requires significant surveillance and awareness from responsible bodies to prevent further implications on the environment and human life.

Carbon storage within underground formations is envisaged as a proven method to decrease the levels of CO₂ emitted into the atmosphere. In this method, the CO₂ is injected into target formations through proper wells. Generally, once carbon dioxide reaches the presumed depths, it starts spreading within these formations. The buoyancy force may push the injected fluid to the beneath the caprock. This layer prevents further upward movement of the CO₂ plume. Thereby, investigating the type of the underground formation and its storage capacity is of great importance prior to beginning a carbon storage project. Four major mechanisms have been identified for CO₂ storage: structural trapping, residual trapping, CO₂ dissolution, and mineral trapping. Each of these stages, from injecting to the eventual fate of CO₂, needs a high volume of research and effort to clarify the contribution of geological CO₂ storage to reducing the level of global warming.

This Special Issue aims to collect quality papers presenting the recent advancements achieved within the field of geological CO₂ storage. These papers could address any issue, from injecting to the ultimate fate of CO₂ within underground formations. This Special Issue represents a great opportunity to share novel ideas with a wider international community in this field.

Dr. Seyed M. Shariatipour
Dr. Mohammadreza Bagheri
Guest Editors

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Keywords

CO₂ sequestration/storage
porous media
trapping mechanisms

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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22 pages, 3382 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Reactive Transport Modeling and Sensitivity Analysis of CO₂–Rock–Brine Interactions at Ebeity Reservoir, West Kazakhstan

by Nurlan Seisenbayev, Miriam Absalyamova, Alisher Alibekov and Woojin Lee

Sustainability 2023, 15(19), 14434; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151914434 - 2 Oct 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1943

Abstract

This study investigated the reactive transport modeling of CO₂ injection into the Kazakhstan reservoir to identify mineralogical and porosity changes due to geochemical reactions. Additionally, sensitivity analysis was performed to test the effect of the surface area and gas impurity on the CO₂ storage capability. Despite the current need to investigate carbon sequestration in Kazakhstan, a limited number of studies have been conducted in this field. The Ebeity oil reservoir sandstone formation in the Pre-Caspian Basin has been tested as a potential CO₂ storage site. The 1D PHREEQC simulation results of 10,000 years suggest that reservoirs with a higher abundance of these secondary carbonates may be better suited for long-term CO₂ sequestration. The concentration of Fe³⁺ fluctuated, influenced by magnetite and siderite dissolution, leading to ankerite precipitation at 20 and 40 m. The porosity increased from 15% to 18.2% at 1 m and 20 m, favoring a higher CO₂ storage capacity, while at 40 m, it remained stable due to minor mineral alterations. A reduced surface area significantly limits the formation of dawsonite, a crucial secondary mineral for CO₂ trapping. For instance, at λ = 0.001, dawsonite formation dropped to 6 mol/kgw compared to 24 mol/kgw at λ = 1. Overall, the results of this study can play an essential role in future geological analyses to develop CO₂ storage in Kazakhstan for nearby reservoirs with similar geological characteristics. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geological CO₂ Storage)

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18 pages, 21598 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Estimating Three-Dimensional Permeability Distribution for Modeling Multirate Coreflooding Experiments

by Evans Anto-Darkwah, Takeshi Kurotori, Ronny Pini and Avinoam Rabinovich

Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 3148; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043148 - 9 Feb 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2205

Abstract

Characterizing subsurface reservoirs such as aquifers or oil and gas fields is an important aspect of various environmental engineering technologies. Coreflooding experiments, conducted routinely for characterization, are at the forefront of reservoir modeling. In this work, we present a method to estimate the three-dimensional permeability distribution and characteristic (intrinsic) relative permeability of a core sample in order to construct an accurate model of the coreflooding experiment. The new method improves previous ones by allowing to model experiments with mm-scale accuracy at various injection rates, accounting for variations in capillary–viscous effects associated with changing flow rates. We apply the method to drainage coreflooding experiments of nitrogen and water in two heterogeneous limestone core samples and estimate the subcore scale permeability and relative permeability. We show that the models are able to estimate the saturation distribution and core pressure drop with what is believed to be sufficient accuracy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geological CO₂ Storage)

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11 pages, 1892 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Uncertainty Quantification of the CO₂ Storage Process in the Bunter Closure 36 Model

by Masoud Ahmadinia, Mahdi Sadri, Behzad Nobakht and Seyed M. Shariatipour

Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 2004; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032004 - 20 Jan 2023

Viewed by 2148

Abstract

The UK plans to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050. Carbon capture and storage (CCS), an important strategy to reduce global CO₂ emissions, is one of the critical objectives of this UK net-zero plan. Among the possible storage site options, saline aquifers are one of the most promising candidates for long-term CO₂ sequestrations. Despite its promising potential, few studies have been conducted on the CO₂ storage process in the Bunter Closure 36 model located off the eastern shore of the UK. Located amid a number of oil fields, Bunter is one of the primary candidates for CO₂ storage in the UK, with plans to store more than 280 Mt of CO₂ from injections starting in 2027. As saline aquifers are usually sparsely drilled with minimal dynamic data, any model is subject to a level of uncertainty. This is the first study on the impact of the model and fluid uncertainties on the CO₂ storage process in Bunter. This study attempted to fully accommodate the uncertainty space on Bunter by performing twenty thousand forward simulations using a vertical equilibrium-based simulator. The joint impact of five uncertain parameters using data-driven models was analysed. The results of this work will improve our understanding of the carbon storage process in the Bunter model before the injection phase is initiated. Due to the complexity of the model, it is not recommended to make a general statement about the influence of a single variable on CO₂ plume migration in the Bunter model. The reservoir temperature was shown to have the most impact on the plume dynamics (overall importance of 41%), followed by pressure (21%), permeability (17%), elevation (13%), and porosity (8%), respectively. The results also showed that a lower temperature and higher pressure in the Bunter reservoir condition would result in a higher density and, consequently, a higher structural capacity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geological CO₂ Storage)

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17 pages, 4388 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Gridding Effects on CO₂ Trapping in Deep Saline Aquifers

by Alessandro Suriano, Costanzo Peter, Christoforos Benetatos and Francesca Verga

Sustainability 2022, 14(22), 15049; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142215049 - 15 Nov 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2476

Abstract

Three-dimensional numerical models of potential underground storage and compositional simulation are a way to study the feasibility of storing carbon dioxide in the existing geological formations. However, the results of the simulations are affected by many numerical parameters, and we proved that the refinement of the model grid is one of them. In this study, the impact of grid discretization on CO₂ trapping when the CO₂ is injected into a deep saline aquifer was investigated. Initially, the well bottom-hole pressure profiles during the CO₂ injection were simulated using four different grids. As expected, the results confirmed that the overpressure reached during injection is strongly affected by gridding, with coarse grids leading to non-representative values unless a suitable ramp-up CO₂ injection strategy is adopted. Then, the same grids were used to simulate the storage behavior after CO₂ injection so as to assess whether space discretization would also affect the simulation of the quantity of CO₂ trapped by the different mechanisms. A comparison of the obtained results showed that there is also a significant impact of the model gridding on the simulated amount of CO₂ permanently trapped in the aquifer by residual and solubility trapping, especially during the few hundred years following injection. Conversely, stratigraphic/hydrodynamic trapping, initially confining the CO₂ underground due to an impermeable caprock, does not depend on gridding, whereas significant mineral trapping would typically occur over a geological timescale. The conclusions are that a fine discretization, which is acknowledged to be needed for a reliable description of the pressure evolution during injection, is also highly recommended to obtain representative results when simulating CO₂ trapping in the subsurface. However, the expedients on CO₂ injection allow one to perform reliable simulations even when coarse grids are adopted. Permanently trapped CO₂ would not be correctly quantified with coarse grids, but a reliable assessment can be performed on a small, fine-grid model, with the results then extended to the large, coarse-grid model. The issue is particularly relevant because storage safety is strictly connected to CO₂ permanent trapping over time. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geological CO₂ Storage)

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22 pages, 11836 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Applicable Investigation of SPH in Characterization of Fluid Flow in Uniform and Non-Uniform Periodic Porous Media

by Masoud Mohammadi and Masoud Riazi

Sustainability 2022, 14(21), 14320; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142114320 - 2 Nov 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1565

Abstract

Today, the use of numerical modeling for characterizing properties of porous media and related concepts has been widely extended, especially in subsurface flow issues such as geological CO₂ storage and petroleum recovery. Therefore, in this study, the fundamental problem of laminar fluid flow through uniform or non-uniform and periodic array of cylinders was functionally investigated using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method as a modern and applied method of modeling in order to develop the past studies and introduce a complementary numerical tool alongside laboratory methods. All modeling processes were performed in the form of dimensionless processes for generalization and applicability at different scales. The results were used to characterize properties of porous media and to investigate basic properties such as fluid velocity, permeability, streamlines, and hydraulic tortuosity. Accuracy of modeling was shown in comparison with the results obtained in the literature. In this study, the potential of the method has been investigated in order to show the ability in modeling characteristic laboratory experiments of porous media and the possibility of using it instead of them. For this purpose, three periodic models of uniform and randomly distributed non-uniform porous media with arrays of circular, square, and diamond-shaped cylinders in a porosity range of 30–95%, with different types of cylinder distribution at the pore scale, were investigated. New equations were proposed for permeability as a function of porosity. Moreover, the method of tortuosity calculation was investigated directly through the time history of properties in the SPH method, and shape factors were obtained for the studied porous media models. The results showed that the geometry of a square cylinder with distribution in a square grid led to a higher permeability than circular and diamond-shaped grids. In contrast, diamond-shaped geometry with distribution in a hexagonal grid led to higher permeability than the other two models. Furthermore, diamond-shaped geometry had higher tortuosity, and circular and square geometries had almost identical tortuosity. Increasing the size of the modeling domain and decreasing the size of cylinders (i.e., decreasing resolution) reduces effects of the shape and the geometry of cylinders and achieves the same results. Random and non-uniform distribution of cylinders within porous media reduces fluid velocity, permeability, tortuosity, and shape factor (p) compared to the uniform models. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geological CO₂ Storage)

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Review

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39 pages, 3219 KiB

Open AccessReview

Selecting Geological Formations for CO₂ Storage: A Comparative Rating System

by Muhammad Hammad Rasool, Maqsood Ahmad and Muhammad Ayoub

Sustainability 2023, 15(8), 6599; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086599 - 13 Apr 2023

Cited by 42 | Viewed by 12443

Abstract

Underground storage of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in geological formations plays a vital role in carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. It involves capturing CO₂ emissions from industrial processes and power generation and storing them underground, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions and curbing the impact of climate change. This review paper features a comparative analysis of CO₂ storage in deep saline aquifers, depleted reservoirs, coal seams, basaltic formations and clastic formations. The comparison has been drawn based upon seven factors carefully selected from the literature, i.e., safety, storage capacity, injection rates, efficiency, residual trapping, containment and integrity and potential to improve, and all of these factors have been rated from low (1) to high (5) based upon their individual traits. Based upon these factors, an overall M.H. rating system has been developed to categorize geological formations for CO₂ storage and it is observed that deep water aquifers and basaltic formations are the most effective options for CO₂ storage. Lastly, a detailed way forward has been suggested, which can help researchers and policymakers to find more viable ways to enhance the efficiency of CO₂ storage in various geological formations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geological CO₂ Storage)

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