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Transport of perfluorocarbon tracers in the Cranfield Geological Carbon Sequestration Project
Author(s) -
Soltanian Mohamad Reza,
Amooie Mohammad Amin,
Cole David,
Graham David,
Pfiffner Susan,
Phelps Tommy,
Moortgat Joachim
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
greenhouse gases: science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.45
H-Index - 32
ISSN - 2152-3878
DOI - 10.1002/ghg.1786
Subject(s) - tracer , brine , carbon sequestration , environmental science , carbon dioxide , petroleum engineering , chemistry , geology , physics , organic chemistry , nuclear physics
A field‐scale carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) injection pilot project was conducted by the Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (SECARB) at Cranfield, Mississippi. Two associated campaigns in 2009 and 2010 were carried out to co‐inject perfluorocarbon tracers (PFTs) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF 6 ) with CO 2 . Tracers in gas samples from two observation wells were analyzed to construct breakthrough curves. In this work, we present the field data and numerical modeling of the flow and transport of CO 2 , brine, and tracers. A high‐resolution static model of the formation geology in the detailed area study (DAS) was used to capture the impact of connected flow pathways created by fluvial channels on breakthrough curves and breakthrough times of PFTs and SF 6 tracers. We use the cubic‐plus‐association (CPA) equation of state, which takes into account the polar nature of water molecules, to describe the phase behavior of CO 2 –brine‐tracer mixtures. Our simulated results show good agreement for the 2009 tracer campaign in Cranfield, while a larger discrepancy emerges by 2010. The combination of multiple tracer injection pulses with detailed numerical simulations proves to be a powerful tool in constraining both formation properties and how complex flow paths develop over time. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.