CDI-Type II: Collaborative Research: Computational Models for Evaluating Long Term CO2 Storage in Saline Aquifers

Collaborative Research: Computational Models for Evaluating Long Term

CO2 Storage in Saline Aquifers

The key goal of this project is to produce a prototypical

computational system to accurately predict the fate of injected CO2

in conditions governed by multiphase flow, rock mechanics,

multicomponent 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.

To tackle this grand challenge effort, a multidisciplinary research

team has been assembled of senior researchers M. F. Wheeler,

T. Arbogast, and M. Delshad of the Center for Subsurface Modeling

and I. Duncan from the Bureau of Economic Geology at The

University of Texas at Austin, as well as M. Parashar of

the Applied Software Systems Laboratory at Rutgers University. This

group has expertise in (1) applied mathematics and computational

science that includes multiscale and multiphysics algorithms, solvers,

uncertainty, and optimization (2) computer science

that includes dynamic adaptivity, model/code couplings, and data

management and transport (3) compositional modeling and

CO2 injection processes and (4) CO2 demonstration sites.

In each of the third and fourth years of the project, we will

host a two-day workshop for high school teachers, advanced high school

students, and undergraduate students with an interest in high school

teaching. We will provide training in the use of a sophisticated groundwater

simulator, to be used as a tool to engage and pique the interest of

high schoolers, perhaps leading some to careers in mathematics, the

sciences, and interdisciplinary work. In addition, two postdoctoral

students and roughly two graduate students will be supported

throughout the project.

Geologic sequestration is a proven means of permanent CO2 greenhouse gas

storage, but it is difficult to design and manage such efforts. Predictive

computational simulation may be the only means to account for the lack of

complete characterization of the subsurface environment, the multiple scales of

the various interacting processes, the large areal extent of saline aquifers,

and the need for long time predictions. This proposal will investigate high

fidelity multiscale and multiphysics algorithms necessary for simulation of

multiphase flow and transport coupled with geochemical reactions and related

mineralogy, and geomechanical deformation in porous media to predict changes in

rock properties during sequestration. The work will result in a prototypical

computational framework with advanced numerical algorithms and underlying

technology for research in CO2 applications, which has been validated and

verified against field-scale experimental tests. The multidisciplinary

research team has expertise in (1) applied mathematics and computational

science, (2) computer science and engineering, (3) compositional modeling and

CO2 injection processes, and (4) CO2 demonstration sites.

In each of the third and fourth years of the project, we will

host a two-day workshop for high school teachers, advanced high school

students, and undergraduate students with an interest in high school

teaching. We will provide training in the use of a sophisticated groundwater

simulator, to be used as a tool to engage and pique the interest of

high schoolers, perhaps leading some to careers in mathematics, the

sciences, and interdisciplinary work. In addition, two postdoctoral

students and roughly two graduate students will be supported

throughout the project.