Abstract:

Geologic sequestration by injection of CO2 into deep brine aquifers and reservoirs represents one of the most promising approaches for reducing atmospheric CO2. A key goal of our work is to produce a prototypical computational system to accurately predict the fate of injected CO2 in conditions governed by multiphase flow, rock mechanics, multi-component transport, thermodynamic phase behavior, chemical reactions within both the fluid and the rock, and the coupling of all these phenomena over multiple time and spatial scales. We present a "wish list" for simulator capabilities and describe algorithms and software being developed at UT-Austin.