IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/greenh/v5y2015i4p474-486.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A coupled discrete element and finite element model for multiscale simulation of geological carbon sequestration

Author

Listed:
  • Jie Bao
  • Zhijie Xu
  • Yilin Fang

Abstract

We present a numerical study using a discrete element method (DEM) coupled with a finite element method (FEM) at the boundary to simulate the fluid flow, geomechanical deformation, and dynamic fracturing together to enhance the sustainability analysis for geological sequestration of CO 2 . The fluid flow, geomechanical deformation, and fracturing due to the injection of fluid are all modeled by the bonded DEM (bonded‐DEM), where fluid flow is modeled by solving the Darcy flow directly on the Lagrangian particles. Because of the high computational expense, the bonded‐DEM is only used in the domain where fracturing is highly possible, namely the area near to the injection well and around the pre‐existing fault. For the area far away from the high risky domain, the deformation and pressure solutions are obtained by a standard finite element method (FEM). The stress, deformation, and pressure obtained from FEM are fed back into the bonded‐DEM simulations as boundary conditions that were applied to the DEM boundary particles. The proposed model has the potential to be used to evaluate the safety and sustainability of a sequestration site. By predicting the critical time when the fault is reactivated and the time when CO 2 breaks through the caprock through the reactivated fault. The model also shows that the ground surface displacement can be used as an effective monitoring indicator for fracturing, fault reactivation, and CO 2 breakthrough in aquifer and caprock, implying a very useful monitoring method for the safety of any sequestration site.

Suggested Citation

  • Jie Bao & Zhijie Xu & Yilin Fang, 2015. "A coupled discrete element and finite element model for multiscale simulation of geological carbon sequestration," Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 5(4), pages 474-486, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:greenh:v:5:y:2015:i:4:p:474-486
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1002/ghg.1491
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pruess, Karsten & García, Julio & Kovscek, Tony & Oldenburg, Curt & Rutqvist, Jonny & Steefel, Carl & Xu, Tianfu, 2004. "Code intercomparison builds confidence in numerical simulation models for geologic disposal of CO2," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(9), pages 1431-1444.
    2. Jie Bao & Zhangshuan Hou & Yilin Fang & Huiying Ren & Guang Lin, 2013. "Uncertainty quantification for evaluating impacts of caprock and reservoir properties on pressure buildup and ground surface displacement during geological CO 2 sequestration," Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 3(5), pages 338-358, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Benjamin Court & Thomas Elliot & Joseph Dammel & Thomas Buscheck & Jeremy Rohmer & Michael Celia, 2012. "Promising synergies to address water, sequestration, legal, and public acceptance issues associated with large-scale implementation of CO 2 sequestration," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 17(6), pages 569-599, August.
    2. Curtis M. Oldenburg & Sumit Mukhopadhyay & Abdullah Cihan, 2016. "On the use of Darcy's law and invasion‐percolation approaches for modeling large‐scale geologic carbon sequestration," Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 6(1), pages 19-33, February.
    3. Cheng Cao & Hejuan Liu & Zhengmeng Hou & Faisal Mehmood & Jianxing Liao & Wentao Feng, 2020. "A Review of CO 2 Storage in View of Safety and Cost-Effectiveness," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-45, January.
    4. Fugang Wang & Jing Jing & Tianfu Xu & Yanlin Yang & Guangrong Jin, 2016. "Impacts of stratum dip angle on CO 2 geological storage amount and security," Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 6(5), pages 682-694, October.
    5. Víctor Vilarrasa & Jonny Rutqvist & Antonio Pio Rinaldi, 2015. "Thermal and capillary effects on the caprock mechanical stability at In Salah, Algeria," Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 5(4), pages 449-461, August.
    6. Li, Didi & Zhang, Hongcheng & Li, Yang & Xu, Wenbin & Jiang, Xi, 2018. "Effects of N2 and H2S binary impurities on CO2 geological storage in stratified formation – A sensitivity study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 482-492.
    7. Anna Wachowicz-Pyzik & Anna Sowiżdżał & Leszek Pająk & Paweł Ziółkowski & Janusz Badur, 2020. "Assessment of the Effective Variants Leading to Higher Efficiency for the Geothermal Doublet, Using Numerical Analysis‒Case Study from Poland (Szczecin Trough)," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-20, May.
    8. Zhang, Lisong & Zhang, Shiyan & Jiang, Weizhai & Wang, Zhiyuan & Li, Jing & Bian, Yinghui, 2018. "A mechanism of fluid exchange associated to CO2 leakage along activated fault during geologic storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(PB), pages 1178-1190.
    9. Ismail Ismail & Vassilis Gaganis, 2023. "Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage in Saline Aquifers: Subsurface Policies, Development Plans, Well Control Strategies and Optimization Approaches—A Review," Clean Technol., MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-29, May.
    10. Li, Didi & He, Yao & Zhang, Hongcheng & Xu, Wenbin & Jiang, Xi, 2017. "A numerical study of the impurity effects on CO2 geological storage in layered formation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 107-120.
    11. Jie Bao & Zhangshuan Hou & Yilin Fang & Huiying Ren & Guang Lin, 2015. "Uncertainty quantification for evaluating the impacts of fracture zone on pressure build‐up and ground surface uplift during geological CO2 sequestration," Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 5(3), pages 254-267, June.
    12. Lehua Pan & Nicolas Spycher & Christine Doughty & Karsten Pruess, 2017. "ECO2N V2.0: A TOUGH2 fluid property module for modeling CO 2 ‐H 2 O‐NACL systems to elevated temperatures of up to 300°C," Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 7(2), pages 313-327, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:greenh:v:5:y:2015:i:4:p:474-486. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)2152-3878 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.