Laboratory Sand Tank Modeling of the Brumbys Fault CO2 Controlled Release Field Experiment

Abstract Faults present potential leakage risks for geological CO2 storage. To de‐risk a field test injecting CO2 into a shallow fault, laboratory sand tank fluid flow experiments were conducted prior to field injection. The vertical 2.5D sand tank analog models were constructed with different grain...

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Main Authors: Hailun Ni, Andrew Feitz, Eric Tenthorey, Hadi Nourollah, Katherine Romanak, Claire Patterson, Susan Hovorka
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-03-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113918
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author Hailun Ni
Andrew Feitz
Eric Tenthorey
Hadi Nourollah
Katherine Romanak
Claire Patterson
Susan Hovorka
author_facet Hailun Ni
Andrew Feitz
Eric Tenthorey
Hadi Nourollah
Katherine Romanak
Claire Patterson
Susan Hovorka
author_sort Hailun Ni
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Faults present potential leakage risks for geological CO2 storage. To de‐risk a field test injecting CO2 into a shallow fault, laboratory sand tank fluid flow experiments were conducted prior to field injection. The vertical 2.5D sand tank analog models were constructed with different grain sizes of glass beads to represent the permeability contrast between formation layers. A variety of analog fluids were also used to represent both the injection of gaseous and supercritical CO2. Experimental results have validated the simulation results in terms of fluid migration pathways. In addition, results with different analog fluids show that CO2 migration along faults is likely to have similar overall flow paths both near the surface and at depth, but different plume sizes and saturation. Finally, based on an inspectional scaling analysis, we were able to estimate field‐scale CO2 plume migration time, which has been validated by real field observations for the first time.
format Article
id doaj-art-bbf3fb1ba1a0408cb50c4b97aef464de
institution Kabale University
issn 0094-8276
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language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Geophysical Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-bbf3fb1ba1a0408cb50c4b97aef464de2025-08-20T03:52:32ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072025-03-01526n/an/a10.1029/2024GL113918Laboratory Sand Tank Modeling of the Brumbys Fault CO2 Controlled Release Field ExperimentHailun Ni0Andrew Feitz1Eric Tenthorey2Hadi Nourollah3Katherine Romanak4Claire Patterson5Susan Hovorka6Bureau of Economic Geology The University of Texas at Austin Austin TX USAGeoscience Australia Canberra ACT AustraliaGeoscience Australia Canberra ACT AustraliaCO2CRC Limited Melbourne VIC AustraliaBureau of Economic Geology The University of Texas at Austin Austin TX USAGeoscience Australia Canberra ACT AustraliaBureau of Economic Geology The University of Texas at Austin Austin TX USAAbstract Faults present potential leakage risks for geological CO2 storage. To de‐risk a field test injecting CO2 into a shallow fault, laboratory sand tank fluid flow experiments were conducted prior to field injection. The vertical 2.5D sand tank analog models were constructed with different grain sizes of glass beads to represent the permeability contrast between formation layers. A variety of analog fluids were also used to represent both the injection of gaseous and supercritical CO2. Experimental results have validated the simulation results in terms of fluid migration pathways. In addition, results with different analog fluids show that CO2 migration along faults is likely to have similar overall flow paths both near the surface and at depth, but different plume sizes and saturation. Finally, based on an inspectional scaling analysis, we were able to estimate field‐scale CO2 plume migration time, which has been validated by real field observations for the first time.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113918CO2 geological storagesand tank experimentsphysical analog modelhigh‐permeability faultgravity destabilized flowscaling analysis
spellingShingle Hailun Ni
Andrew Feitz
Eric Tenthorey
Hadi Nourollah
Katherine Romanak
Claire Patterson
Susan Hovorka
Laboratory Sand Tank Modeling of the Brumbys Fault CO2 Controlled Release Field Experiment
Geophysical Research Letters
CO2 geological storage
sand tank experiments
physical analog model
high‐permeability fault
gravity destabilized flow
scaling analysis
title Laboratory Sand Tank Modeling of the Brumbys Fault CO2 Controlled Release Field Experiment
title_full Laboratory Sand Tank Modeling of the Brumbys Fault CO2 Controlled Release Field Experiment
title_fullStr Laboratory Sand Tank Modeling of the Brumbys Fault CO2 Controlled Release Field Experiment
title_full_unstemmed Laboratory Sand Tank Modeling of the Brumbys Fault CO2 Controlled Release Field Experiment
title_short Laboratory Sand Tank Modeling of the Brumbys Fault CO2 Controlled Release Field Experiment
title_sort laboratory sand tank modeling of the brumbys fault co2 controlled release field experiment
topic CO2 geological storage
sand tank experiments
physical analog model
high‐permeability fault
gravity destabilized flow
scaling analysis
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113918
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