CO[subscript 2] migration in saline aquifers. Part 2. Capillary and solubility trapping
The large-scale injection of carbon dioxide (CO[subscript 2]) into saline aquifers is a promising tool for reducing atmospheric CO[subscript 2] emissions to mitigate climate change. An accurate assessment of the post-injection migration and trapping of the buoyant plume of CO[subscript 2] is essenti...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Cambridge University Press
2013
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77930 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7370-2332 |
| _version_ | 1826204967202979840 |
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| author | MacMinn, Christopher W. Szulczewski, Michael Lawrence Juanes, Ruben |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering MacMinn, Christopher W. Szulczewski, Michael Lawrence Juanes, Ruben |
| author_sort | MacMinn, Christopher W. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The large-scale injection of carbon dioxide (CO[subscript 2]) into saline aquifers is a promising tool for reducing atmospheric CO[subscript 2] emissions to mitigate climate change. An accurate assessment of the post-injection migration and trapping of the buoyant plume of CO[subscript 2] is essential for estimates of storage capacity and security, but these physical processes are not fully understood. In Part 1 of this series, we presented a complete solution to a theoretical model for the migration and capillary trapping of a plume of CO[subscript 2] in a confined, sloping aquifer with a natural groundwater through-flow. Here, we incorporate solubility trapping, where CO[subscript 2] from the buoyant plume dissolves into the ambient brine via convective mixing. We develop semi-analytical solutions to the model in two limiting cases: when the water beneath the plume saturates with dissolved CO[subscript 2] very slowly or very quickly (‘instantaneously’) relative to plume motion. We show that solubility trapping can greatly slow the speed at which the plume advances, and we derive an explicit analytical expression for the position of the nose of the plume as a function of time. We then study the competition between capillary and solubility trapping, and the impact of solubility trapping on the storage efficiency, a macroscopic measure of plume migration. We show that solubility trapping can increase the storage efficiency by several-fold, even when the fraction of CO[subscript 2] trapped by solubility trapping is small. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:03:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/77930 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:03:53Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/779302022-09-28T11:49:56Z CO[subscript 2] migration in saline aquifers. Part 2. Capillary and solubility trapping MacMinn, Christopher W. Szulczewski, Michael Lawrence Juanes, Ruben Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering MacMinn, Christopher W. Szulczewski, Michael Lawrence Juanes, Ruben The large-scale injection of carbon dioxide (CO[subscript 2]) into saline aquifers is a promising tool for reducing atmospheric CO[subscript 2] emissions to mitigate climate change. An accurate assessment of the post-injection migration and trapping of the buoyant plume of CO[subscript 2] is essential for estimates of storage capacity and security, but these physical processes are not fully understood. In Part 1 of this series, we presented a complete solution to a theoretical model for the migration and capillary trapping of a plume of CO[subscript 2] in a confined, sloping aquifer with a natural groundwater through-flow. Here, we incorporate solubility trapping, where CO[subscript 2] from the buoyant plume dissolves into the ambient brine via convective mixing. We develop semi-analytical solutions to the model in two limiting cases: when the water beneath the plume saturates with dissolved CO[subscript 2] very slowly or very quickly (‘instantaneously’) relative to plume motion. We show that solubility trapping can greatly slow the speed at which the plume advances, and we derive an explicit analytical expression for the position of the nose of the plume as a function of time. We then study the competition between capillary and solubility trapping, and the impact of solubility trapping on the storage efficiency, a macroscopic measure of plume migration. We show that solubility trapping can increase the storage efficiency by several-fold, even when the fraction of CO[subscript 2] trapped by solubility trapping is small. 2013-03-15T20:21:27Z 2013-03-15T20:21:27Z 2011-10 2011-03 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0022-1120 1469-7645 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77930 MacMinn, C. W., M. L. Szulczewski, and R. Juanes. “CO[subscript 2] Migration in Saline Aquifers. Part 2. Capillary and Solubility Trapping.” Journal of Fluid Mechanics 688 (2011): 321–351. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7370-2332 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2011.379 Journal of Fluid Mechanics Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf Cambridge University Press MIT web domain |
| spellingShingle | MacMinn, Christopher W. Szulczewski, Michael Lawrence Juanes, Ruben CO[subscript 2] migration in saline aquifers. Part 2. Capillary and solubility trapping |
| title | CO[subscript 2] migration in saline aquifers. Part 2. Capillary and solubility trapping |
| title_full | CO[subscript 2] migration in saline aquifers. Part 2. Capillary and solubility trapping |
| title_fullStr | CO[subscript 2] migration in saline aquifers. Part 2. Capillary and solubility trapping |
| title_full_unstemmed | CO[subscript 2] migration in saline aquifers. Part 2. Capillary and solubility trapping |
| title_short | CO[subscript 2] migration in saline aquifers. Part 2. Capillary and solubility trapping |
| title_sort | co subscript 2 migration in saline aquifers part 2 capillary and solubility trapping |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77930 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7370-2332 |
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