Injection of a CO2-Reactive Solution for Wellbore Annulus Leakage Remediation

Driven by concerns for safe storage of CO2, substantial effort has been directed on wellbore integrity simulations over the last decade. Since large scale demonstrations of CO2 storage are planned for the near-future, numerical tools predicting wellbore integrity at field scale are essential to capt...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inMinerals (Basel) Vol. 9; no. 10; p. 645
Main Authors Wasch, Laura, Koenen, Mariëlle
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.10.2019
Subjects
Aquifers
Calcite
Carbon dioxide
Cement
Chemical reactions
co2 leakage
Concrete
Diffusion coefficient
Fluid dynamics
Fluid flow
Geology
Laboratories
Leaching
leakage remediation
Mineralization
Mineralogy
Permeability
Porosity
Porous media
reactive transport modelling
Remediation
Rocks
Saturation
Silica
toughreact
well integrity
United States > US
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Driven by concerns for safe storage of CO2, substantial effort has been directed on wellbore integrity simulations over the last decade. Since large scale demonstrations of CO2 storage are planned for the near-future, numerical tools predicting wellbore integrity at field scale are essential to capture the processes of potential leakage and assist in designing leakage mitigation measures. Following this need, we developed a field-scale wellbore model incorporating (1) a de-bonded interface between cement and rock, (2) buoyancy/pressure driven (microannulus) flow of brine and CO2, (3) CO2 diffusion and reactivity with cement and (4) chemical cement-rock interaction. The model is aimed at predicting leakage through the microannulus and specifically at assessing methods for CO2 leakage remediation. The simulations show that for a low enough initial leakage rate, CO2 leakage is self-limiting due to natural sealing of the microannulus by mineral precipitation. With a high leakage rate, CO2 leakage results in progressive cement leaching. In case of sustained leakage, a CO2 reactive solution can be injected in the microannulus to induce calcite precipitation and block the leak path. The simulations showed full clogging of the leak path and increased sealing with time after remediation, indicating the robustness of the leakage remediation by mineral precipitation.
ISSN:2075-163X
2075-163X
DOI:10.3390/min9100645