Abstract
The storage of CO2 in depleted oil and gas reservoirs, coal seams or saline aquifers is an important means of mitigating greenhouse effect in the environment. In CO2 underground storage projects, well integrity is very important to ensure a safe execution of projects and storage of CO2. It is a prerequisite for such projects and must be demonstrated for all wells affected by the injected CO2 including abandoned wells. As part of one comprehensive methodology proposed by the authors, the leakage of CO2 from the storage reservoir into the atmosphere or overlying aquifers over a certain time frame has been simulated. By building a model consisting of the critical system components, e.g., storage reservoir, casing-cement-rock composite system, injected CO2 etc, according to a detailed study of features, events and processes (FEPs) which affect well integrity, a simulation is conducted for a time frame of 1000 years without consideration of geochemical influences. For the scenarios simulated, results show that CO2 leakage rate is very small except for a reservoir under high pressure and poor quality cement-sheaths, which can lead to leakage rates in excess of the maximum allowable value.
Access provided by Autonomous University of Puebla. Download to read the full chapter text
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bouc, O., Quisel, N., Le Gouevec, J.: Risk and safety evaluation for CO2 geological storage. In: Geotechnologien Science Report on 1. French-German Symposium on Geological Storage of CO2, June 21-22. Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam (2007)
Brooks, R.H., Corey, A.T.: Hydraulic properties of porous media. Hydrology paper No. 3, Fort Collins, CO, Colorado State University (1964)
Brooks, R.H., Corey, A.T.: Properties of porous media affecting fluid flow. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Division, Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 92(IR2), 61–68 (1966)
Burdine, N.T.: Relative permeability calculations from pore size distribution data. Transactions of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers 198, 71–78 (1953)
Carey, J.W., Svec, R., Grigg, R., Zhang, J., Crow, W.: Experimental investigation of wellbore integrity and CO2–brine flow along the casing–cement microannulus. International J. of Greenhouse Gas Control 2010, 272–282 (2010)
Duval, P.P.: Sustainable future for hydrocarbons. IFP Contribution to TOG 2004 Tarablous, Libya (2004)
Etiope, G., Martinelli, G.: Migration of carrier and trace gases in the geosphere: an overview. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors 129, 185–204 (2001)
Flett, M., Gurton, R., Taggart, I.: The function of gas-water relative permeability hysteresis in the sequestration of Carbon Dioxide in saline formations. In: SPE 88485 presented at the SPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition Held in Perth, Australia, October 18-20 (2004)
Gérard, B., Frenette, R., Augé, L., Desroches, J., Barlet, V., Jammes, L.: Well integrity in CO2 environments performance & risk – technologies. Schlumberger Presentation at Berkeley (March 21, 2006)
Hepple, R.P., Benson, S.M.: Implications of surface seepage on the effectiveness of geologic storage of carbon dioxide as a climate change mitigation strategy. In: Proceedings of the Sixth International Greenhouse Gas Technologies Conference, Kyoto, Japan, October 1-5 (2002)
Huerta, N., Checkai, D.A.: Utilizing sustained casing pressure analog to provide parameters to study CO2 leakage rates along a wellbore. In: SPE International Conference on CO2 Capture, Storage, and Utilization, San Diego, California, November 2-4 (2009)
IPCC, IPCC Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage, p. 442. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2005)
Mainguy, M., Coussy, O.: Role of air pressure in drying of weakly permeable materials. Journal of Engineering Mechanics 127, 582–592 (2001)
Mualem, Y.: A new model for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated porous media. Water Resources Research 12(3), 513–522 (1976)
Reinicke, K.M., Weichmann, M.J., Teodoriu, C., Bai, M., Fichter, C., Krebs, R., Weinlich, F.: Research network well integrity-Project Well Condition. To published in GEOTECHNOLOGIEN (2011a)
Reinicke, K.M., Bai, M., Fichter, C., Weichmann, M.J. Weinlich, F.H.: Leckagerisiko von Bohrungen unter Einfluss von CO2: Von den FEPs bis zu den Szenarien. In: DGMK/ÖGEW-Frühjahrstagung 2011, Celle, April 11-12 (2011b)
Tran Viet, T.: Methodische Entwicklung eines praktikablen Konzeptes zur Bewertung der Dichtheit verfüllter Bohrungen. PhD Dissertation, Clausthal University of Technology (2012)
Van Genuchten, M.T.: A closed-form equation for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal 44(5), 892–898 (1980)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Bai, M., Reinicke, K.M. (2013). Numerical Simulation of CO2 Leakage through Abandoned Wells during CO2 Underground Storage. In: Hou, M., Xie, H., Were, P. (eds) Clean Energy Systems in the Subsurface: Production, Storage and Conversion. Springer Series in Geomechanics and Geoengineering. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37849-2_17
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37849-2_17
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-37848-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-37849-2
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)