Speaker
Description
Reliable simulation of CO₂ injection into deep saline aquifers requires numerical frameworks capable of consistently coupling multiphase flow and heat transport in porous media. Such coupling is essential to correctly represent the interaction between pressure, phase distribution, advective transport, and temperature evolution, particularly in the presence of strong injection-driven gradients. This work presents a finite element modeling framework designed to accurately resolve these coupled processes with numerical consistency.
Multiphase flow is described using a two-phase formulation based on overall-composition variables, considering a CO₂–brine system within a simplified yet physically consistent framework designed to isolate the dominant mechanisms of injection-driven multiphase transport. This formulation provides a coherent representation of phase behavior and establishes a suitable foundation for future extensions toward reactive transport. Thermal effects are modeled through an energy conservation equation and includes pressure–temperature coupling terms (Joule-Thomson Effect).
The governing equations are discretized using the finite element method and implemented in Python using the Firedrake framework. Distinct approximation spaces are employed for each field variable to ensure numerical stability and robustness. Pressure is solved implicitly, velocities are subsequently derived from the pressure field, saturation is advanced explicitly using the current time-step pressure solution, and the temperature field is solved implicitly using the updated pressure, velocity, and saturation.
The model is verified with respect to numerical robustness, physical coherence of the response, and correctness of implementation through a sequence of numerical experiments and benchmark tests employing different geometrical representations relevant to reservoir and near-wellbore analysis, including 1D/2D Cartesian and 1D/3D radial domains. The results demonstrate the stability and flexibility of the proposed formulation and provide a consistent basis for future coupling with geochemical models aimed at evaluating salt precipitation and injectivity loss.
| Country | Brazil |
|---|---|
| Green Housing & Porous Media Focused Abstracts | This abstract is related to Green Housing |
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