An Open-Source platform for Geomechanical assessment of CO2 Geological Storage
Summary
CO2 geological storage is currently the only available Negative Emission Technology with sufficient proven capabilities to significantly contribute to the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The design and operations of a storage site are based on the combination of measurements (intrinsically limited to the surface and few wells) and the use of physics-based computational models. A digital twin of the subsurface is indeed the corner stone of all performance and risks assessments. This project aims at addressing a critical gap in the currently available solutions for CO2 injection modeling. Existing open-source simulators are unfortunately restricted only to the modeling of the CO2 flow. These models do not account for any induced mechanical change in a robust and accurate manner. As a result, they cannot address the possible consequences of injection on the integrity and containment of a site. The current project aims at extending the open-source finite element library Akantu to simulate the time-dependent hydro-mechanical changes associated with CO2 injection. Thanks to the high-performance computing capabilities of this software, the solver will allow to represent the complete three-dimensional geological structure of a site including the presence of natural fractures and faults whose reactivation potential is critical to assess. This project requires the combination of a wide range of disciplines from geophysics, computational mechanics to software development which are adequately covered by the expertise of the two participating laboratories. This fully-coupled hydro-mechanical solver will be a key component of the on-going effort related to the development of a CO2 storage pilot in Switzerland.
General information
- PIs: Brice Lecampion (GEL / IIC) and Jean-François Molinari (LSMS / IIC)
- Team members: Emil Gallyamov, Nicolas Richart
- Start date: 01.06.2022
- Duration: 24 months