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Dynamic Processes of CO 2 Storage in the Field: 1. Multiscale and Multipath Channeling of CO 2 Flow in the Hierarchical Fluvial Reservoir at Cranfield, Mississippi
Author(s) -
Zhou Quanlin,
Yang Xianjin,
Zhang Rui,
Hosseini Seyyed A.,
AjoFranklin Jonathan B.,
Freifeld Barry M.,
Daley Thomas M.,
Hovorka Susan D.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/2019wr025688
Subject(s) - point bar , fluvial , geology , tracer , channel (broadcasting) , saturation (graph theory) , bar (unit) , flow (mathematics) , volumetric flow rate , geomorphology , channelized , hydrology (agriculture) , petrology , geotechnical engineering , mechanics , engineering , physics , electrical engineering , oceanography , mathematics , structural basin , combinatorics , nuclear physics
A consistent picture of dynamic channeling, invasion, spreading, and breakthrough (CISB) of supercritical CO 2 in the hierarchical fluvial reservoir at Cranfield, Mississippi is presented after 10 years of integration and analysis of complementary field monitoring and characterization data. The dynamic CISB with small‐scale CO 2 ‐flow channels in the F1‐F2‐F3 cross section (F1, F2, and F3 are one injection and two monitoring wells) was imaged by daily electrical resistance tomography (ERT) and time‐lapse crosswell seismic surveys. One, three, and four CO 2 flow channels logged at F1, F2, and F3, respectively, were dynamically connected with strong temporal variations in CO 2 saturation during 221 days of drainage with injection rate doubling twice and 81 days of imbibition. Three intermediate‐scale CO 2 flow channels (with highest CO 2 saturation) normal to the cross section were ERT‐imaged during late‐time drainage. A large‐scale, sinuous fluvial CO 2 flow channel was imaged by repeat surface seismic survey at the end of the imbibition. The fluvial sandstone channel sinuously bypasses the F1‐F2‐F3 cross section in a point bar, but the channel is connected to the cross section through an intermediate‐scale sandstone channel, forming a complicated flow channel network. The multiscale flow channel network (in the fluvial channel‐point bar system) revealed from the observed CISB enables us to consistently interpret the hydrological monitoring data of three tracer tests, each conducted during an injection rate step, and preinjection hydraulic‐thermal‐tracer tests. This interpretation of the CISB and flow channel network can guide future modeling and data inversion to best understand the effects of natural heterogeneity on CO 2 storage efficiency and residual trapping.