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Effects of the geothermal gradient on the convective dissolution in CO2 sequestration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2023

Chenglong Hu Open the ORCID record for Chenglong Hu [Opens in a new window] ,
Ke Xu Open the ORCID record for Ke Xu [Opens in a new window]  and
Yantao Yang Open the ORCID record for Yantao Yang [Opens in a new window]
Chenglong Hu
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory for Turbulence and Complex Systems and Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, P.R. China Joint Laboratory of Marine Hydrodynamics and Ocean Engineering, Laoshan Laboratory, Shandong 266299, P.R. China
Ke Xu
Affiliation:
Department of Energy and Resources Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University,Beijing 100871, P.R. China
Yantao Yang*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory for Turbulence and Complex Systems and Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, P.R. China Joint Laboratory of Marine Hydrodynamics and Ocean Engineering, Laoshan Laboratory, Shandong 266299, P.R. China
*
†Email address for correspondence: yantao.yang@pku.edu.cn
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Abstract

Convective dissolution is an important mechanism for long-term CO$_2$ sequestration in deep saline aquifers. The presence of an unstable geothermal gradient can affect the process of dissolution. In this paper, we present direct numerical simulations in a three-dimensional porous medium at three different concentration Rayleigh numbers $Ra_S$ with a set of thermal Rayleigh numbers $Ra_T$. Simulations reveal that the flow structures alter when ${\textit {Ra}}_T$ increases for a fixed ${\textit {Ra}}_S$. Strong thermal gradient can yield large-scale convection rolls which change the horizontal distribution and motions of concentration fingers. The time evolution of fluxes also has different responses to different ${\textit {Ra}}_T$. A theoretical model is developed and successfully describes the evolution of concentration flux and volume averaged concentration during the final shutdown stage. We further calculate the dissolved CO$_2$ into the interior over time, which shows non-monotonic variations as ${\textit {Ra}}_T$ increases. At the end of our simulations, the maximum increment of dissolved CO$_2$ occurs when density ratio is around unity for all three concentration Rayleigh numbers we have explored. We apply our results to a typical geological reservoir and discuss their implications.

JFM classification

Convection: Convection in porous media Turbulent Flows: Turbulent convection
Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 963 , 25 May 2023 , A23
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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