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PANEL REPORT: MULTIPHASE FLUID TRANSPORT IN GEOLOGIC MEDIAproduces about 5 million metric tons, or megatons (Mt), of CO 2 per year, which means hundredsto several thousand zero-emission power plants must be brought on line over the next decades.Currently the U.S. has 1,552 coal-fueled power plants (336,000 MW) and 5,467 natural gas-firedpower plants (437,000 MW) (Energy Information Administration 2006)Carbon dioxide, perhaps with other combustion products like oxides of sulfur and nitrogen (SO xand NO x ), persists as a separate fluid phase when injected into deep subsurface formations,thereby leading to a multiphase flow problem. However, this problem is now driven by fluidbeing injected, rather than extracted as it is for oil production. While CO 2 has been injected intodepleted oil reservoirs for about 30 years, and a relatively mature infrastructure exists in placeslike West Texas, the amount injected to run all of the enhanced oil recovery operations in thisregion is about 20 Mt/yr of CO 2 , which corresponds to emissions from about three large powerplants. Direct experience with megaton-scale CO 2 storage, not involving enhanced oil recovery,is limited to two commercial-scale projects, one in the North Sea and one in Algeria (see sidebaron Current CO 2 storage projects: The Sleipner and In Salah projects). Solution of the carbonproblem will require a much larger effort.BASIC SCIENCE CHALLENGES, OPPORTUNITIES AND RESEARCH NEEDSWhile scientists have studied subsurface multiphase fluid systems for many decades, andimportant scientific challenges remain, the carbon problem introduces fundamentally newscientific challenges that must be addressed to provide the proper foundation for meeting criticaltechnical needs. The enormous scale of the carbon problem, the fact that a variety of geologicmedia will need to be used, and the fact that the flow system will fundamentally be driven byoverpressurization (injection) rather than underpressurization (extraction), all lead to challengesthat require fundamental scientific inquiry. The importance of the carbon problem and its newchallenges leads to a new set of basic science questions, and to associated research opportunities.We highlight five important research areas.Emergent behavior in multiphase systems due to physical and chemicalheterogeneity from the pore scale to basin scaleModeling subsurface systems is a formidable task because of the wide disparity in length scalesranging from pore to basin. Furthermore, many of the fluid phases are composed of multiplecomponents; for example, crude oil has hundreds of different components. Research approachesto analyze this highly complex problem require new conceptual and theoretical models ofmultiscale, multiphase, and multicomponent processes, with their numerical implementationultimately involving high-performance computing and model validation with corroboratinglaboratory and field experiments. Theoretical models range from pore-scale models that can beapproached by existing descriptions, e.g., Navier-Stokes equations and their solution throughtechniques like lattice Boltzmann methods, pore-scale network models, Darcy-scale continuummodels, and larger-scale continuum models based in part on stochastic theories (for example,Reeves and Celia 1996; Oren et al. 1998; Prodanovic and Bryant 2006). Development of theoriesto bridge this wide range of scales is still in its infancy. The enormity of the CO 2 problem and itsimpacts up to the basin scale make the issue of proper mathematical representation of processesand phenomena across disparate scales an important grand challenge. Four outstandingchallenges are identified as follows.10 Basic Research Needs for Geosciences: Facilitating 21 st Century Energy Systems
PANEL REPORT: MULTIPHASE FLUID TRANSPORT IN GEOLOGIC MEDIACurrent CO 2 storage projects: The Sleipner and In Salah projectsAt the Sleipner gas field in the North Sea, the produced natural gas has a high CO 2content. To prepare the gas for market, the CO 2 is stripped from the gas. The strippedCO 2 gas would normally be emitted to the atmosphere, However, because Norway has aCO 2 emission tax for off-shore emissions, in 1996 Statoil decided to inject the CO 2 backunderground, into the Utsira Formation, rather than emitting it to the atmosphere. Theamount injected is about one million metric tons per year. The Utsira Formation isoverlain by a thick cap-rock formation, which limits upward migration of the buoyantCO 2 plume. The figures below show the location of the field in the North Sea, and aschematic of the CO 2 injection well and the deeper wells that produce natural gas.Courtesy of StatoilIn addition to the Sleipner project, a newer injection, also on the order of a million tons ofCO 2 per year, has begun at the In Salah field in Algeria. This is also for the purpose ofemission avoidance, although in this case there is no taxation structure driving thedecision. Both of these injections are being monitored by surface geophysics surveys.The Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) project at Weyburn is also being monitored—noother EOR projects currently involve imaging of the subsurface CO 2 . The figure belowshows the amounts involved in these three injection projects, as compared to theemissions from a single coal-fired power plant.Courtesy of John Gale, IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme,http://www.ieagreen.org.uk; see Gale 2006.Basic Research Needs for Geosciences: Facilitating 21 st Century Energy Systems 11
Page 6 and 7: TABLE OF CONTENTSBasic Science Chal
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Page 13 and 14: EXECUTIVE SUMMARYpurpose of linking
Page 15 and 16: INTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTIONWorldwide e
Page 17 and 18: INTRODUCTIONway into the rock forma
Page 19 and 20: PANEL REPORTSMULTIPHASE FLUID TRANS
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GRAND CHALLENGE: COMPUTATIONAL THER
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GRAND CHALLENGE:INTEGRATED CHARACTE
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GRAND CHALLENGE: SIMULATION OF MULT
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PRIORITY RESEARCH DIRECTION:MINERAL
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PRIORITY RESEARCH DIRECTION:NANOPAR
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PRIORITY RESEARCH DIRECTION:DYNAMIC
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PRIORITY RESEARCH DIRECTION: TRANSP
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PRIORITY RESEARCH DIRECTION:FLUID-I
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PRIORITY RESEARCH DIRECTION:BIOGEOC
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CROSSCUTTING ISSUE:THE MICROSOPIC B
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CROSSCUTTING ISSUE:THE MICROSOPIC B
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CROSSCUTTING ISSUE:HIGHLY REACTIVE
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CROSSCUTTING ISSUE:THERMODYNAMICS O
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CROSSCUTTING ISSUE:THERMODYNAMICS O
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REFERENCESBenner, S.G., Hansel, C.M
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REFERENCESChen, J., Hubbard, S., Pe
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REFERENCESEnnis-King, J., Preston,
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REFERENCESHolman, H.-Y., Perry, D.L
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REFERENCESLi, L., and Tchelepi, H.A
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REFERENCESNeal, A.L., Techkarnjanar
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REFERENCESReeves, P.C., and Celia,
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REFERENCESSteefel, C.I., DePaolo, D
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REFERENCESZachara, J.M., Ainsworth,
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AppendicesBasic Research Needs for
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APPENDIX 1: TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVES
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APPENDIX 2: WORKSHOP PROGRAMThursda
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APPENDIX 4: ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATI
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