Simulation and modelling of convective mixing of carbon dioxide in geological formations

Fuente: arXiv
Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: De Paoli, Marco, Zonta, Francesco, Enzenberger, Lea, Coliban, Eliza, Pirozzoli, Sergio
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
_version_ 1866912294397542400
author De Paoli, Marco
Zonta, Francesco
Enzenberger, Lea
Coliban, Eliza
Pirozzoli, Sergio
author_facet De Paoli, Marco
Zonta, Francesco
Enzenberger, Lea
Coliban, Eliza
Pirozzoli, Sergio
contents We perform large-scale numerical simulations of convection in 3D porous media at Rayleigh-Darcy numbers up to $Ra=8\times10^4$. To investigate the convective mixing of carbon dioxide (CO$_2$) in geological formations, we consider a semi-infinite domain, where the CO$_2$ concentration is constant at the top and no flux is prescribed at bottom. Convection begins with a diffusion-dominated phase, transitions to convection-driven solute finger growth, and ends with a shutdown stage as fingers reach the bottom boundary and the concentration in the system increases. For $Ra \ge 5\times10^3$, we observe a constant-flux regime with dissolution flux stabilizing at 0.019, approximately 13\% higher than in 2D estimates. Finally, we provide a simple and yet accurate physical model describing the mass of solute entering the system throughout the whole mixing process. These findings extend solutal convection insights to 3D and high-$Ra$, improving the reliability of tools predicting the long-term CO$_2$ dynamics in the subsurface.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_06090
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Simulation and modelling of convective mixing of carbon dioxide in geological formations
De Paoli, Marco
Zonta, Francesco
Enzenberger, Lea
Coliban, Eliza
Pirozzoli, Sergio
Fluid Dynamics
Geophysics
We perform large-scale numerical simulations of convection in 3D porous media at Rayleigh-Darcy numbers up to $Ra=8\times10^4$. To investigate the convective mixing of carbon dioxide (CO$_2$) in geological formations, we consider a semi-infinite domain, where the CO$_2$ concentration is constant at the top and no flux is prescribed at bottom. Convection begins with a diffusion-dominated phase, transitions to convection-driven solute finger growth, and ends with a shutdown stage as fingers reach the bottom boundary and the concentration in the system increases. For $Ra \ge 5\times10^3$, we observe a constant-flux regime with dissolution flux stabilizing at 0.019, approximately 13\% higher than in 2D estimates. Finally, we provide a simple and yet accurate physical model describing the mass of solute entering the system throughout the whole mixing process. These findings extend solutal convection insights to 3D and high-$Ra$, improving the reliability of tools predicting the long-term CO$_2$ dynamics in the subsurface.
title Simulation and modelling of convective mixing of carbon dioxide in geological formations
topic Fluid Dynamics
Geophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.06090