| Instructors: | Andreas Busch and Eric Mackay (Heriot-Watt University) |
| Language: | English |
| Level: | Advanced |
| Duration and format: | Classroom, 2 days |
| Location: | TBC |
Evaluating the risks for CO2 storage is a key aspect in determining the technical viability of such projects. This course will explain coupled phenomena in terms of i) reservoir conformance and ii) storage integrity by discussing the principles of coupled processes affected mainly by changes in pressure (effective stress), temperature and geochemistry in subsurface storage and sealing formations. These changes will affect flow and transport as well as geomechanical stability and impact the long-term predictability of conformance and containment. Through this course you will learn how coupled processes are implemented in real-world CO2 storage projects to assess related risks. You will gain an understanding of the coupled processes in CO2 storage reservoirs to make your own assessment of short to long-term risks for reservoir conformance prediction and containment, and you will obtain an introduction into the fundamental coupled processes expected to occur in subsurface.
Prof Andreas Busch is Professor in Earth Sciences. He is currently the Director of the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering and Head of the GeoEnergy Research Group in the Lyell Centre, both at Heriot-Watt University. His research is focusing on topics associated with the Energy Transition, working with a diverse group of researchers composed of geologists, geomechanists, petroleum engineers, hydrologists and geochemists. The group aims at an improved understanding of the coupled thermo-hydro-chemical-mechanical aspects related to carbon capture and storage (CCS), geothermal heat, hydrogen storage and natural gas production on the laboratory, field, and modelled reservoir scale.
Eric Mackay holds the Energi Simulation Chair in CCUS and Reactive Flow Simulation in the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering at Heriot-Watt University, where he has worked since 1990. His research interests include the study of fluid flow in porous media, such as the flow of oil, gas and water in subsurface geological formations. He has over 100 publications related primarily to maintaining oil production when faced with mineral scale deposition, but since 2005 he has also worked on Carbon Capture and Storage. He is involved in projects identifying methods for calculating secure CO2 storage potential in saline formations and depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs.
| Instructor: | Florian Doster (Heriot-Watt University) |
| Language: | English |
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Duration and format: | Classroom, 1 day |
| Location: | TBC |
This one-day course covers the fundamentals of flow in porous media, essential for the safe and efficient planning and operation of geological CO2 storage. After completing the course you will be able to explain why fluids move in a reservoir and how these movements can be modelled with the help of Darcy’s law and the principle of mass conservation. You will be able to discuss what controls the pressure diffusion through a reservoir. Further you will be able to describe the physical phenomena that control the dynamics at the pore-scale when CO2 displaces resident fluids in the reservoir and how these processes impact the dynamics of CO2 over the large volumes and timescales that are needed for geological CO2 storage. Last, you will be able to apply models and simple simulators to investigate dynamic storage capacities, pressure build up and leakage risks.
Professor Florian Doster (PhD, Stuttgart University, 2011) is Professor for Multi-Scale Multi-Phase Flow Modelling in the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering at Heriot-Watt University and Program Director for Subsurface Energy Systems. His research interests include the study of multi-physics multi-phase flow phenomena in porous media and their appropriate physical and mathematical description across length and time scales. He focuses on phenomena related to CO2 storage, flow in fractured porous media and hysteretic phenomena such as trapping. His research is funded by the ACT (BEIS), EuropeanCommission, US Department of Energy, the Scottish Energy Technology Partnership, Norwegian Research Council, Foundation CMG, TotalEnergies, BP and Petronas.
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