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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Impact of reservoir parameters and wellbore permeability uncertainties on CO 2 and brine leakage potential at the Shenhua CO 2 Storage Site, China

Here, this paper describes a system-level risk assessment for the Shenhua CO 2 storage site, China, using the National Risk Assessment Partnership Integrated Assessment Model for Carbon Storage (NRAP-IAM-CS). Here, we begin by determining the optimal number of Monte Carlo (MC) simulations to achieve CO 2 and brine leakage result convergence. Then, we calculate mass CO 2 and brine leakage to the atmosphere and a hypothetical shallow aquifer. Finally, we assess the geochemical impacts in the event of leakage as if there were a shallow freshwater aquifer at the Shenhua site. Simulation results show that leakage results tend to stabilize after 300 Monte Carlo simulations. When the three wells on site are assigned a permeability of 10 -11 m 2 (representing significantly leaking wells), moderate CO 2 and brine leakages occur, and the percentage of CO 2 leakage exceeds the threshold value we set based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This is, however, unlikely to be the case for the Shenhua site. For all the other scenarios, the CO 2 leakage is trivial although there is still the possibility of CO 2 leakage into the groundwater aquifer exceeding the 1% threshold over 1000 years, assuming constant legacy wellbore permeability. For the significantly leaking scenario, there is a 10% probability to have a moderate (2.7 × 10 7 m 3 ) leakage-affected volume in the shallow aquifer with the pH below 6.5, and a large (1.4 × 10 8 m 3 ) volume with the total dissolved solids (TDS) above 500 ppm, hence pH and TDS may be considered for site monitoring plans. Based on the simulation results, there is a very low probability of significant CO 2 /brine leakage through the existing wells at the Shenhua CO 2 storage site.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Chemical Impacts of Potential CO2 and Brine Leakage on Groundwater Quality with Quantitative Risk Assessment: A Case Study of the Farnsworth Unit

Potential leakage of reservoir fluids is considered a key risk factor for geologic CO2 sequestration (GCS), with concerns of their chemical impacts on the quality of overlying underground sources of drinking water (USDWs). Effective risk assessment provides useful information to guide GCS activities for protecting USDWs. In this study, we present a quantified risk assessment case study of an active commercial-scale CO2-enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) and sequestration field, the Farnsworth Unit (FWU). Specific objectives of this study include: (1) to quantify potential risks of CO2 and brine leakage to the overlying USDW quality with response surface methodology (RSM); and (2) to identify water chemistry indicators for early detection criteria. Results suggest that trace metals (e.g., arsenic and selenium) are less likely to become a risk due to their adsorption onto clay minerals; no-impact thresholds based on site monitoring data could be a preferable reference for early groundwater quality evaluation; and pH is suggested as an indicator for early detection of a leakage. This study may provide quantitative insight for monitoring strategies on GCS sites to enhance the safety of long-term CO2 sequestration.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Thermal and solubility effects on fault leakage during geologic carbon storage

Geologic carbon storage (GCS) is a promising method for reducing anthropogenic CO 2 emissions to the atmosphere. To safely deploy GCS in the field, it is necessary to assess risks and the effect of uncertainty on safe storage. The effect of uncertainty can be quantified using batches of simulations, but the high computational costs of high-resolution simulations necessitate use of reduced-order models (ROMs). Previous work involves ROMs for quantifying the risk of different potential leakage paths from storage reservoirs to shallow formations. However, previous studies on development of fault-leakage ROMs have limited numbers of uncertain parameters and do not explicitly examine impacts of CO 2 solubility and thermal stresses on fault reactivation, which can generate high-permeability pathways and compromise CO 2 storage. Here, we analyze an ensemble of simulations considering CO 2 leakage from a storage reservoir to a shallow aquifer through a fault while varying a number of uncertain parameters related to thermo-hydro-mechanical properties and CO 2 injection. We show the effects of solubility on: free-phase CO 2 -leakage rates, brine-leakage rates, and poroelastic fault destabilization. We find that CO 2 solubility is more important for estimating free-phase CO 2 -leakage rates compared to brine-leakage rates or poroelastic fault destabilization. We also find that thermal stresses and overpressures have different spatial distributions within the fault, indicating that the spatial variability of overpressures due to variation in flow parameters does not necessarily make the spatial variability of thermal stresses negligible. We suggest the use of the CO 2 phase-change path as a variable in future fault-leakage ROMs.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Leakage From Coexisting Geologic Forcing and Injection‐Induced Pressurization: A Semi‐Analytical Solution for Multilayered Aquifers With Multiple Wells

Abstract Abnormal fluid pressures (above or below hydrostatic pressure) can develop and persist in sedimentary basins. The common occurrence of abnormal pressures may cause challenges for project permitting of geological carbon sequestration (GCS), particularly in reservoirs with pre‐injection overpressure. The leaky wells that may exist in some sedimentary basins can provide flow paths between deep brine aquifers and shallower freshwater aquifers. Pre‐injection relative overpressures can cause brine leakage through leaky wells even before any injection occurs. The tendency for flow through leaky wells is coupled with the process of pressure dissipation that occurs through aquitards. Specifically, with non‐zero permeability, aquitards can dissipate pressure over large areal extents and thereby reduce leakage rates through leaky wells. This study presents development of a semi‐analytical solution for hydraulic head and brine leakage in multilayered aquifer–aquitard systems with geologic pressure forcing. The geologic forcing that causes abnormal pressures in the multilayered system can coexist with any number of injection, extraction, and leaky wells that also affect fluid pressure. The semi‐analytical model is applied to explore how leakage through leaky wells varies as functions of pressurization rate, along with aquitard and leaky well properties in an overpressured multilayered system. The results show that although injection‐induced pressures can dissipate rapidly through suitably permeable aquitards, coexisting geologic forcing may create sustained rates of brine leakage into freshwater aquifers through leaky wells. In GCS, a very low‐permeability aquitard with high capillary entry pressure to free‐phase CO 2 is desired to serve as the caprock to prevent leakage of CO 2 from the storage reservoir. Nevertheless, the results from this study show that the brine leakage impact to shallow freshwater aquifers through leaky wells might substantially decrease with increasing aquitard permeability values, as long as small aquitard permeability and high capillary entry pressure serve to prevent CO 2 leakage.

Cihan, A.↗
DOE OSTI2023

SALSA_python (SALSython) v1

SALSA_python (Semi-Analytical Leakage Solutions for Aquifers) is a software that computed semi-analytical solutions for hydraulic head and brine leakage in multilayered aquifer–aquitard systems with geologic pressure forcing. It can simulate brine leakage into aquifers in a multi-aquifer-aquitard system with multiple injection and leaky wells. This situation is encountered in underground CO2 storage wherein brine leakage from pressurized reservoirs into aquifers is of concern. SALSA_python calls the original SALSA[1] subroutines in python by using the salsa2.so library. This enables the incorporation and coupling of SALSA computations into existing python-based codes and tools. SALSA_python is available for Linux and Mac operating systems. [1] Cihan, A., Oldenburg, C. M., & Birkholzer, J. T. (2022). Leakage from coexisting geologic forcing and injection-induced pressurization: A semi-analytical solution for multilayered aquifers with multiple wells. Water Resources Research, 58, e2022WR032343.

Bhuvankar, Pramod↗
DOE OSTI2020

Milestone Report for MS8: Extend Quantitative Brine and CO 2 Leakage Calculations

This report summarizes results of the risk analysis and characterization of CO 2 and brine leakage potential of Farnsworth Unit (FWU) wells. U.S. DOE’s National Risk Assessment Partnership (NRAP) program works on quantitatively assess long-term environmental risks amidst significant geologic uncertainty and variability. NRAP risk assessment and computational tools are developed to quantify uncertainties and calculate risk associated with geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). For this study, we have developed a workflow from University of Utah’s physics-based reservoir simulators to performing leakage calculations using NRAP Tools. NRAP tools (NRAP-IAM-CS, RROM-Gen) are used to conduct leakage risk analysis based on Eclipse simulation results, and characterize wellbore leakage at the Farnworth Site. This report summarizes results of the risk analysis and characterization of CO 2 and brine leakage potential of Farnsworth Unit (FWU) wells.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Mechanistic modeling of CO 2 well leakage in a generic abandoned well through a bridge plug cement-casing gap

Both known and unmapped plugged and abandoned wells are potential leakage pathways for CO 2 from geologic carbon sequestration (GCS) sites. Although many abandoned wells have cement bridge plugs installed to prevent leakage, the seal between the cement and the inner casing wall is subject to failure. In this study, we carried out detailed T2Well simulations of cases of sudden non-Darcy flow of CO 2 and brine leakage up the gap between a cement plug and the inner steel casing wall that becomes a fully connected flow path during the post-injection period. The goal of our study was two-fold: (1) to understand the dynamics, rates, and the characteristic temporal signals associated with the onset of leakage through various gap-aperture sizes, and (2) to suggest potential monitoring strategies based on the findings. Simulation results show that the leakage of CO 2 and brine upward is transient with interesting phase interference behavior. Time-dependent oscillatory flows with varying pressure, temperature, and flow rates of CO 2 and brine show strong dependence on gap aperture. Phase-change and decompression lead to very low temperatures at the top of the well for gap apertures larger than 4 mm suggesting that remote thermal monitoring at the ground surface may be an effective way of monitoring even if well locations are not known a priori. Pressure in the well is also indicative of CO 2 leakage. The temporal patterns of changing temperature and pressure may be useful diagnostic signals for leakage detection. Finally, these transient leakage signals may provide information on the cause of leakage and/or characteristics of the flow path that could inform effective remediation design and execution approaches.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Semi-Analytical Leakage Solutions for Aquifers (SALSA) v1

SALSA is a semi-analytical modeling tool that can provide assessments of pressure perturbations and brine leakage because of fluid injection and extraction activities in sedimentary basins. Sedimentary basins typically contain vertical sequences of near-horizontal aquifers separated by less-permeable aquitards. In the context of geologic carbon sequestration (GCS), while aquitards are relied upon to contain injected buoyant free-phase CO2 and limit inter-aquifer brine flow, the large number of leaky wells (e.g., unused/unsuccessful exploration wells, or improperly plugged water or oil/gas wells) that are present in sedimentary basins creates concerns for potential leakage and groundwater contamination. The mathematical theory and solution method included in SALSA is presented in our recent manuscript under review. SALSA is the first to account for the coupled leakage through aquitards and leaky wells, with geologic pressurization sources. SALSA based on semi-analytical solutions can be computationally very efficient for problems containing many injection and leaky wells in multilayered sedimentary systems, compared to any numerical simulation software requiring local mesh refinement around each well to obtain accurate results. Therefore, stakeholders (e.g., regulators, operators) for site screening, injection and post-injection pressure behavior and assessing leakage risks can use SALSA as a fast-predictive tool in GCS applications in multilayered aquifer systems.

Cihan, Abdullah↗
DOE OSTI2023

Legacy Well Leakage Risk Analysis at the Farnsworth Unit Site

This paper summarizes the results of the risk analysis and characterization of the CO 2 and brine leakage potential of Farnsworth Unit (FWU) site wells. The study is part of the U.S. DOE’s National Risk Assessment Partnership (NRAP) program, which aims to quantitatively evaluate long-term environmental risks under conditions of significant geologic uncertainty and variability. To achieve this, NRAP utilizes risk assessment and computational tools specifically designed to quantify uncertainties and calculate the risk associated with geologic carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) sequestration. For this study, we have developed a workflow that utilizes physics-based reservoir simulation results as input to perform leakage calculations using NRAP Tools, specifically NRAP-IAM-CS and RROM-Gen. These tools enable us to conduct leakage risk analysis based on ECLIPSE reservoir simulation results and to characterize wellbore leakage at the Farnsworth Unit Site. We analyze the risk of leakage from both individual wells and the entire field under various wellbore integrity distribution scenarios. The results of the risk analysis for the leakage potential of FWU wells indicate that, when compared to the total amount of CO 2 injected, the highest cemented well integrity distribution scenario (FutureGen high flow rate) exhibits approximately 0.01% cumulative CO 2 leakage for a 25-year CO 2 injection duration at the end of a 50-year post-injection monitoring period. In contrast, the highest possible leakage scenario (open well) shows approximately 0.1% cumulative CO 2 leakage over the same time frame.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

NRAP-Open-IAM Analytical Reservoir Model: Development and Testing

Geological carbon sequestration (GCS) is a key technology for reducing global carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. Over the last decade, the U.S. Department of Energy has invested in understanding the science base, developing practical implementation methods, and demonstrating secure GCS technologies to mitigate the environmental impacts associated with the atmospheric release of CO 2 . As part of the National Risk Assessment Partnership, a systems-level risk assessment tool, called the NRAP-Open-IAM, has been developed to conduct risk assessment and enable safe operations at a GCS site. The current NRAP-Open-IAM contains a simple reservoir model component that calculates the evolution of CO 2 saturation and fluid pressure in a storage reservoir during CO 2 injection operations. This report presents the development and testing of a new analytical reservoir reduced-order model (ROM), which is extended from an existing semi-analytical model for estimation of CO 2 and brine leakage along legacy wells, and enhances the capability of the NRAP-Open-IAM to simulate more types of reservoir conditions. The developed model is validated against three reference studies, and the results indicate that the new ROM predicts the behavior of the two-phase fluids (brine and injected CO 2 ) well and is applicable to different reservoir simulation boundary conditions (i.e., constant pressure boundary and infinite-acting boundary) without a priori user specification of the boundary type. Sensitivity analysis for a set of model parameters is performed using 4,000 synthetic cases prepared via a fully automated process and using machine-learning-based feature selection. The stochastic analysis identifies gravitational number (i.e., ratio of gravitational forces to viscous force) and distance between the injection well and observation location as the most impactful parameters for matching the pressure and CO 2 saturation, respectively, between the numerical simulations and the ROM. This report details the possible ROM uncertainties and serves as a guide for users to understand the use and limitations of this ROM. The code implementation of the model will be released as a module within the NRAP-Open-IAM.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

NRAP-Open-IAM Multisegmented Wellbore Reduced-Order Model: Improvement and Quality Assurance

The multisegmented wellbore model (MSW) semi-analytically estimates the amount of CO 2 and brine leakage from a leaking legacy well by segmenting it into intervals to simulate site-specific stratigraphic and hydrogeologic properties. The model is a component of the National Risk Assessment Partnership Open-Source Integrated Assessment Model (NRAP-Open-IAM), which was developed to perform risk assessment for geologic CO 2 storage. The new wellbore leakage model, which uses deep learning networks for a caprock segment, was developed to enhance the analytical MSW. The model was trained and validated using a synthetic data set of Subsurface Transport Over Multiple Phases (STOMP) multiphase flow simulations from various geological, well attribute, and operational conditions to ensure its quality. The results demonstrate that the model is more accurate than the existing model in predicting the transport of two-phase fluids (brine and injected CO 2 ) through the well. This report provides a detailed explanation of the model development and quality assurance.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

TCCSP Task 6 Risk Assessment Report

For this Risk Assessment Plan, TCCSP has conducted a site-based risk assessment that quantifies the risk of CO 2 and/or brine leakage as a result of CO 2 injection at TCCSP. The risk assessment covers project planning, construction, injection, post-injection periods and closure of TCCSP. Key technical and non-technical Project risks are identified as part of the Risk Workshop and include a thorough evaluation of related scenarios. Mitigation strategies for the identified risk scenarios are defined to develop a scientifically sound, and community acceptable CO 2 storage Project.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Revised Kimberlina Groundwater Simulations

Kimberlina Groundwater Qaulity Simulations (Version 3: 2015 October) by Lawrence Livermore National Labratory. Submitted to the EDX team at the National Energy Technology Laboratory for research use. This dataset contains 562 updated groundwater quality simulations based on the Kimberlina site. It is a six-layer model including the aquifers and aquitards inbetween the ground surface and the reservoir. The input files and associated leakage information for these simulations are included in the zip file "nrap_kim_well31_fluxes and inputs.tar.gz". These 562 simulations are the successful results out of 1000 monte carlo simulations, with time length greater than 5 years. Each simulation consists 6 output files, therefore, there are 3372 files (6*562) in total. One single example simulation of full time length (200 year) is also provided in the zip file "single_simulation_200yr_sim0012.tar.gz". These 6 groundwater quality parameters are: - pH (use absolute value) - TDS (mg/kg) - Pressure (Pa) - CO2 Liquid Saturation (fraction range 0.0-1.0) - CO2 Gas Concentration (mol/L) - CO2 Liquid Concentration (mol/kg) Their correponding file names, take the first simulation for example, are: ph0001.ntab (for pH) , tds0001.ntab (for TDS), usnt0001.p.ntab (for pressure), usnt0001.s_liquid.ntab (for liquid saturation), usnt0001.c_co2_gas.ntab (for CO2 gas concentration) and usnt0001.c_co2_liquid.ntab (for CO2 liquid concentration). Each output file contains at least 19 columns (variables). The total number of columns depends on the simulation time length. The column data include the information of numerical records, geologic location and sizes and the simulated parameter values over time. The first 13 variables are about numerical records and relative geologic information for a simulation grid: 1. index: simulation index 2. i: the ith grid of x-axis 3. j: the jth grid of y-axis 4. k: the kth grid of z-axis 5. element_ref: element type reference 6. nuft_ind: nuft index 7. x: grid location in the x axis direction 8. y: grid location in the y axis direction 9. z: grid location in the z axis direction 10. dx: grid length in the x axis direction 11. dy: grid length in the y axis direction 12. dz: grid length in the z axis direction 13. volume: volume of the simulation grid The rest (14, 15, 16...) variables are the simulated parameter values over time, take pH as an example, are: 14. ph000y: initial pH value. 15. ph001y: simulated pH value at the end of the 1st year. 16. ph002y: simulated pH value at the end of the 2nd year. ... (and so on)... The zip input files have the input fluxes of brine and CO2 (in kg/s) allocated to model layers 1,2,3 and 5 (layers 4 and 6 are assumed to be no-flow aquitards) through the following nodes: (src1 WELL 7 7 25 25 10 32) #Etchegoin (src2 WELL 7 7 25 25 33 72) #Macoma Chanac (src3 WELL 7 7 25 25 73 83) #Santa Margarita Mclure (src4 WELL 7 7 25 25 84 89) #Fruitvale Round Mountain (aquitard) (src5 WELL 7 7 25 25 90 96) #Olcese Sand (thief zone) (src6 WELL 7 7 25 25 97 99) #tremblor Freeman (aquitard) ex: brn1 is assigned to src 1 from i=(7,7), j=(25,25), k=(10,32) Edited by Ya-Mei Yang at National Energy Technology Laboratory

brine leakage↗
NASA NTRS1974

Geothermal down well pumping system

A key technical problem in the exploitation of hot water geothermal energy resources is down-well pumping to inhibit mineral precipitation, improve thermal efficiency, and enhance flow. A novel approach to this problem involves the use of a small fraction of the thermal energy of the well water to boil and super-heat a clean feedwater flow in a down-hole exchanger adjacent to the pump. This steam powers a high-speed turbine-driven pump. The exhaust steam is brought to the surface through an exhaust pipe, condensed, and recirculated. A small fraction of the high-pressure clean feedwater is diverted to lubricate the turbine pump bearings and prevent leakage of brine into the turbine-pump unit. A project demonstrating the feasibility of this approach by means of both laboratory and down-well tests is discussed.

Matthews, H. B.↗
DOE OSTI2020

LLNL Kimberlina 1.2 NUFT Simulations June 2018 (v2)

This dataset contains the output 6,000, 3-dimensional reactive multi-phase flow and transport aquifer simulations of brine and CO2 leakage into a protective aquiver in California’s San Joaquin Valley and input data files detailing the geologic mesh, aquifer physical properties and CO2 and brine injection rates. This data set was generated as an ongoing effort with the US DOE National Risk Assessment Partnership (NRAP) to evaluate the effectiveness of monitoring techniques to detect brine and CO2 leakage from legacy wells into underground sources of drinking water overlaying a CO2 storage reservoir. Each simulation contains a unique set of input parameters, generated stochastically. The outputs consist of these upper three geologic layers (from top): the Etchegoin, Macoma-Chanac, Santa Margarita-McLure formations. These simulations span the several distances (1, 3 and 6 km or wells W31-0.2, W31-0.5 and W31-1.0, respectively) from the CO2 injector, initiated from bottom hole pressure and saturation to calculate wellbore leakage from the storage reservoir, with low and high regional groundwater gradients and wellbore leakage into 5 leaky nodes. The dataset includes 1,000 unique simulations for each distance, which each contain a unique aquifer heterogeneity, aquifer and caprock permeability, and two model generations are included with a high permeability (prod07) and hybrid permeability (prod09). The range of permeability distributions is listed in Table 1. Each model generation consists of 3,000 simulations. Included in the dataset are the leakage rates determined from 2D wellbore models which utilize the pressure and CO2 saturation from LBL's reservoir simulations, NUFT mesh files with distributed lithology, NUFT rocktab files which describe the material properties for the geologic layers and the NUFT input files and post-processed output 'ntab' files. Each ntab file contains spatial (rows) and temporal (columns) model output tables for each model cell, the locations (x,y,z) and dimensions for each cells (dx, dy, dz). Table 1. Permeability distribution ranges for prod07 and prod09 model generations Geologic Layer: Permeability Range (log10 m^2) prod07 prod09 Etchegoin -12.92 to -10.92 -13.70 to -11.44 Macoma-Chanac -12.72 to -10.72 -13.50 to -11.24 Santa Margarita-McLure -12.70 to -10.70 -13.48 to -11.22 The input files used to generate the model include which are included in the dataset are: Time series of CO2 leakage input into the model (ex: Q_brn.W31-0.2.sim1000.layers123.tab) Time series of CO2 leakage input into the model (ex: Q_CO2.W31-0.2.sim1000.layers123.tab) Physical properties of the aquifer materials detailing the aquifer porosity, solid density, partitioning coefficients, permeabilities and van-Genuchten parameters detailed in a NUFT rocktab file: (ex: sim1000.usnt.rocktab) Numerical mesh and geologic data assigned to each model cell detailed in a NUFT genmsh format (ex: sim1000.mesh_k16.prod07.trans.genmsh) The primary output parameters are: pH (use absolute value) Change in TDS (mg/kg) Change in Pressure (Pa) Change CO2 gas saturation (fraction range 0.0-1.0) for example, the directory /p/lscratchh/mansoor1/nrap/kimberlina/prod09/mainfiles/sim1000/W31- 0.2 contains: sim1000.W31-0.2.trans.pH.red.ntab sim1000.W31-0.2.no_bg.trans.TDS.red.ntab sim1000.W31-0.2.usnt.P.deltabg.red.ntab sim1000.W31-0.2.usnt.CO2_sat.deltabg.red.ntab Each row in the NTAB files consist of model output per numerical grid cell. Each output file contains 33 columns (variables), including the information of numerical records, geologic location and sizes and the simulated parameter values over time. The first 13 variables are about numerical records and relative geologic information for a simulation grid: 1. index: simulation index 2. i: the ith grid of x-axis 3. j: the ith grid of y-axis 4. k: the ith grid of z-axis 5. element_ref: element reference 6. nuft_ind: nuft index 7. x: grid location in the x axis direction 8. y: grid location in the y axis direction 9. z: grid location in the z axis direction 10. dx: grid length in the x axis direction 11. dy: grid length in the y axis direction 12. dz: grid length in the z axis direction 13. volume: volume of the simulation grid The remainder (14, 15, 16...) variables are the simulated parameter values over time, take Pressure as an example, are: 14. 0.0y: initial pressure per cell. 15. 10.0y: simulated pressure at the end of the 10th year. 16. 20.0y: simulated pressure at the end of the 20th year. ... (repeated for every 10 years until 200 years)... The model extends 10,000 m, 5,000 m and 1,411 m in the x,y and z dimensions, respectively. The mesh consists of 164,832 cells with mesh dimensions of 101 x 51 x 32 (nx, ny, nz), with cell dimensions ranging from 100 m laterally (along x and y-axis) and model layers are as designated in the z-axis: Layer 1: atmosphere (1e-30 m thick) Layer 2: upper caprock (10 m thick) Layers 3-13: Etchegoin (536.23 m thck) Layers 14-27: Macoma-Chanac (679.04 m thick) Layers 28-32: Santa Margarita-McLure (185.94 m thick) The wellbore is placed along node i=51, j=26, and extends vertically along 5 nodes from the top to the bottom of the model. Special instructions when extracting files: Each Gzip archive (ex: prod07.sim1000-sim00099.tar.gz) contains 100 simulations. Gzip archives should be transferred into base directories (ie. In Linux: mkdir prod07; mv prod07.*.tar.gz prod07/.) before extracting, or files will be overwritten. Each sub-simulation tree should have the following file structure pattern (using the linux 'tree' command): |-- prod07 | |-- sim0001 | |-- W31-0.2 | | |-- Q_brn.W31-0.2.sim0001.layers123.tab | | |-- Q_co2.W31-0.2.sim0001.layers123.tab | | |-- sim0001.W31-0.2.no_bg.trans.TDS.red.ntab | | |-- sim0001.W31-0.2.trans.pH.red.ntab | | |-- sim0001.W31-0.2.usnt.CO2_sat.deltabg.red.ntab | | |-- sim0001.W31-0.2.usnt.P.deltabg.red.ntab | |-- W31-0.5 | | |-- Q_brn.W31-0.5.sim0001.layers123.tab | | |-- Q_co2.W31-0.5.sim0001.layers123.tab | | |-- sim0001.W31-0.5.no_bg.trans.TDS.red.ntab | | |-- sim0001.W31-0.5.trans.pH.red.ntab | | |-- sim0001.W31-0.5.usnt.CO2_sat.deltabg.red.ntab | | |-- sim0001.W31-0.5.usnt.P.deltabg.red.ntab | |-- W31-1.0 | | |-- Q_brn.W31-1.0.sim0001.layers123.tab | | |-- Q_co2.W31-1.0.sim0001.layers123.tab | | |-- sim0001.W31-1.0.no_bg.trans.TDS.red.ntab | | |-- sim0001.W31-1.0.trans.pH.red.ntab | | |-- sim0001.W31-1.0.usnt.CO2_sat.deltabg.red.ntab | | |-- sim0001.W31-1.0.usnt.P.deltabg.red.ntab | |-- sim0001.mesh_k16.prod07.trans.genmsh Disclaimer This document was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States government. Neither the United States government nor Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, nor any of their employees makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States government or Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States government or Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is operated by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. This report was reviewed and released as LLNL-MI-753464.

aquifer↗
DOE OSTI2024

Risk Considerations of Transitioning CO2-EOR Field to CO2 storage Field: Case Study

In the United States (U.S.), carbon dioxide (CO2) injection wells at EOR sites are currently regulated as Class II wells under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Underground Injection Control (UIC) program while dedicated geological CO2 storage (GCS) wells are considered Class VI wells. A CO2-EOR facility considering a transitioning from tertiary oil recovery to injecting CO2 for the primary purpose of long-term storage is required to obtain a Class VI permit where this transition poses an increased risk to underground sources of drinking water. This study considers how transitioning operations from CO2-EOR to storage can impact reservoir plume and pressure transient in the storage envelope, and how these changes could impact area of review and potential unwanted fluid migration. We developed a case study to assess subsurface response and leakage risks associated with a representative, hypothetical operation in a carbonate reservoir. This reservoir transitions from tertiary hydrocarbon recovery to dedicated GCS. Reservoir simulations were run for a set of credible CO2-EOR scenarios to estimate distributions of fluids phases and pressures throughout the model domain after CO2 flooding as well as forecasting the behavior of the reservoir after the transition to a dedicated storage phase. The evolutions from all simulated scenarios were used as the basis for leakage risk quantification using the National Risk Assessment Partnership’s Open-Source Integrated Assessment Model (NRAP-Open-IAM) with a novel reduced-order model to estimate time-dependent leakage of CO2, brine, and hydrocarbon fluids through potentially leaky wells. Results include a description of reservoir response, an estimate of the areal extent that could potentially be impacted by leakage to underground sources of drinking water, and estimates of the magnitude of potential leakage. Considerations for dedicated storage injection well selection, injectivity, and injection scheme performance and potential leakage risk are presented, with implications for risk assessment of well transition discussed. This study presents a risk-based workflow for the Class II to Class VI well transition. Integrating credible numerical simulation of viable CO2-EOR to dedicated CO2 storage with quantitative risk assessment tools, such as the NRAP-Open-IAM, will provide a valuable means to devise operational scenarios and inform decision-making related to storage benefit, leakage risk, and liability. Presented at the SPE/AAPG/SEG Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage Conference in Houston, TX, March 11-13, 2024.

Liu, Guoxiang↗
DOE OSTI2021

Kimberlina 1.2 Velocity Models and Seismic Data

Kimberlina 1.2 Velocity model and synthetic seismic data, produced in collaboration of teams at the National Energy Technology Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory through the National Risk Assessment Partnership. Data is associated with the following publication: Zheng Zhou, Youzuo Lin, Zhongping Zhang, Yue Wu, Zan Wang, Robert Dilmore, and George Guthrie, "A Data-Driven CO2 Leakage Detection Using Seismic Data and Spatial-Temporal Densely Connected Convolutional Neural Networks," International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, Vol 90, 2019. The Kimberlina 1.2 Velocity models were produced by Zan Wang, Robert Dilmore, William Harbert, and Lianjie Huang at NETL. The following citations are directly related to the creation of the velocity models: Wang, Z. Harbert, W., Dilmore, R., Huang, L. Modeling of time-lapse seismic monitoring using CO2 leakage simulations for a model CO2 storage site with realistic geology: Application in assessment of early leak-detection capabilities. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control. V. 76, September 2018, Pages 39-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2018.06.011 Wang, Z., Dilmore, R., Harbert, W. Inferring CO2 saturation from synthetic surface seismic and downhole monitoring data using machine learning for leakage detection at CO2 sequestration sites. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, V. 100, September 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2020.103115 The velocity models were built based on the Kimberlina 1.2 aquifer impact data which is associated with the following publications: Buscheck, T.A., Mansoor, K., Yang, X., Wainwright, H., and Carroll, S. (2019). Downhole pressure and chemical monitoring for CO2 and brine leak detection in aquifers above a CO2 storage reservoir. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control. 91. 102812. 10.1016/j.ijggc.2019.102812. Xianjin Yang, Thomas A. Buscheck, Kayyum Mansoor, Zan Wang, Kai Gao, Lianjie Huang, Delphine Appriou, Susan A. Carroll, Assessment of geophysical monitoring methods for detection of brine and CO2 leakage in drinking water aquifers, International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, Volume 90, 2019, 102803, ISSN 1750-5836, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2019.102803 The synthetic seismic data was produced by Youzuo Lin and team at LANL, and are associated with the following citations: Jordan, P. D., and J. L. Wagoner. Characterizing Construction of Existing Wells to a CO2 Storage Target: The Kimberlina Site, California. Zheng Zhou, Youzuo Lin, Zhongping Zhang, Yue Wu, Zan Wang, Robert Dilmore, and George Guthrie, "A Data-Driven CO2 Leakage Detection Using Seismic Data and Spatial-Temporal Densely Connected Convolutional Neural Networks," International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, Vol 90, 2019.

CO2 Leakage↗
DOE OSTI2022

SWP Summary Report for Individual Legacy Well Leakage Risk Analysis at Farnsworth Unit Site: Open Well Scenario

This report summarizes results of the individual legacy well leakage risk analysis of the Farnsworth Unit site (FWU) for Open Well scenario. NRAP tools Integrated Assessment Model for Carbon Storage (NRAP-IAM-CS) and Reservoir Reduced-Order Model Generator (RROMGen) were used (Dilmore et al., 2016; Pawar et al., 2016; King, 2016). This is part one of the additional analysis addressing SWP BP4 Subtask 7.4.1.2: Extend quantitative brine and CO2 leakage calculations (Chu et al., 2020).

58 GEOSCIENCES↗