Abstract:
The actual saline aquifers is vertically distributed in multiple layers, with large differences in physical properties and serious heterogeneity of capillary pressure. During the sequestration of impure CO
2, the capillary pressure will not only trap CO
2 but also trap the accompanying impurity gas, affecting CO
2 migration and sequestration. However, the entrapment of local capillary under the vertical multi-layer system is still unclear, and its impact on the sequestration efficiency of impure CO
2 needs to be analyzed urgently. For this reason, stochastic statistical geological modeling and impure CO
2-brine two-phase seepage model are combined to establish a vertical multi-layer impure CO
2 sequestration and migration model in saline aquifers. Under the action of capillary pressure, the migration process and its plume development law are studied and the vertical migration rate of impure CO
2 and the capillary pressure trapping ability are calculated quantitatively. Finally, through the sensitivity analysis, the capillary pressure, the influence of capillary pressure, heterogeneity, and impurity volume fraction on CO
2 sequestration efficiency is clarified. The research results show that heterogeneous capillary pressure can effectively trap impure CO
2 and increase the swept volume of impure CO
2 in the lateral direction. With the increase of capillary pressure and its heterogeneity, local capillary trap volume and local capillary sequestration coefficient increase. However, the vertical migration rate of CO
2 decreases significantly, and the difference between the vertical migration rate of impurity gas increases. When the capillary pressure decreases from top to bottom, the local capillary entrapment at the bottom decreases, and more impure CO
2 will migrate to various areas in the upper part of the formation, which makes the local capillary sequestration coefficient of impure CO
2 increase, and the residual sequestration coefficient of impure CO
2 decrease. What’s more, it makes the vertical migration rate of CO
2 increase and the difference between the vertical migration rate of impurity gas and impurity gas decrease. As the volume fraction of impurity gas increases, the buoyancy of impure CO
2 and the vertical migration rate of impure CO
2 increase. More impure CO
2 migrates to the top of the formation, which makes the local capillary sequestration coefficient of impure CO
2 decrease, while residual sequestration coefficient increases. Therefore, to ensure the safety of storage, impure CO
2 containing few impurities should be selected as much as possible to inject into the saline aquifers with large capillary pressure, strong heterogeneity, and vertical capillary pressure increasing first and then decreasing from top to bottom.