Pressure Buildup at

CO
2
Injection Wells
Sally M. Benson
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Berkeley, California 94720
Second Annual Conference on Carbon Sequestration
May 5-8, 2003
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Abstract
An approximate analytical solution for calculating
pressure buildup at CO
2
injection wells has been
developed. It can be used to rapidly calculate the
pressure buildup during injection, as well as, the rate of
pressure falloff once injection stops. The solution
includes the influence of the advancing CO
2
front,
changes in the permeability of the near-well region due
to chemical reactions between the CO
2
and reservoir
rock, and temperature dependent viscosity. The
approximate solution can be used for both open and
closed systems. In addition, it can be used as the basis
for designing and interpreting pressure tests as a
method of monitoring the progress of CO
2
injection
operations.
Applications
Estimation of injection pressures at CO
2
injection wells
Pressure transient analysis at CO
2
injection
wells
Evaluation of the influence of CO
2
/water/rock
interactions on formation permeability
Characterization and monitoring of CO
2
sequestration processes and progress
Physical Processes During Injection
of CO
2
into Water
Immiscible displacement of water
by CO
2
Relative permeability effects
Capillary pressure effects
Adverse mobility ratio

water
>>
CO
2
Pressure and temperature
dependent CO
2
viscosity and
density
Partitioning of CO
2
into the
water phase
Partitioning of water into the
CO
2
phase
Relative Permeablity
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1
s
w
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
k
rCO2
k
rw
Relative Permeablity
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1
s
w
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
k
rCO2
k
rw
Implications for Pressure Buildup
During CO
2
Injection

Relative permeability of CO
2
and water will vary in the
region behind the CO
2
-front
Saturation of CO
2
and
water will vary in the region
behind the CO
2
- front
Saturation Distribution
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 50 100 150 200
r (m)
Saturation Distribution
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 50 100 150 200
r (m)
Sharp Front
Relative Pemeability
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 50 100 150 200
r (m)
Relative Pemeability
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 50 100 150 200
r (m)
A New Approximate Analytical Solution
For Pressure Buildup
Assumptions
Buckley-Leverett type
displacement
Vertical equilibrium
Horizontal reservoir
Homogeneous reservoir
Neglect capillary pressure
(not required)
Slightly compressible fluid
Based on technique
developed by Benson
(1984, 1987)
r
w
r
f
q
CO
2
h
k,c
t,

New Pressure Buildup Solution

Solution consists of two components
Steady state pressure buildup behind the CO
2
front (p
s.s.
)
Pressure transient buildup outside of the front
(p
t
)
)
4
(
4
) , (
) , (
) , (
) , (
) , (
2
) , (
) , ( ) , ( ) , (
2
. .
. .
2
2
2
2
2
2 2
kt
c r
Ei
kh
q
t r p
r
dr
t r k
t r
t r
t r f
kh
q
t r p
t r p t r p t r p
t w f
CO
w CO
f t
r
CO
r
r
CO
CO CO
w s s
f t w s s w
CO
f
w

=
=
+ =

Evaluating p
s.s.
r
dr
t r k
t r
t r
t r f
kh
q
t r p
CO
f
w
r
CO
r
r
CO
CO CO
w s s
) , (
) , (
) , (
) , (
2
) , (
2
2
2
2 2
. .



=
Density Distribution
After 30 Days of Injection
700
725
750
775
800
0 50 100 150
r (m)
C
O
2
< 10% variation
Density Distribution
After 30 Days of Injection
700
725
750
775
800
0 50 100 150
r (m)
C
O
2
< 10% variation
Viscosity Distribution
After 30 Days of Injection
6.0E-05
6.5E-05
7.0E-05
7.5E-05
8.0E-05
0 50 100 150
r (m)
C
O
2
< 10% variation
Viscosity Distribution
After 30 Days of Injection
6.0E-05
6.5E-05
7.0E-05
7.5E-05
8.0E-05
0 50 100 150
r (m)
C
O
2
< 10% variation
Assign average values for and behind the front
Multi-phase Flow Behind the CO
2
Front
2
2
2
2
2
2
CO
CO
s
CO
CO
CO
CO
s
s
f
h
t q
r

=
) (
) (
1
1
) (
2
2
2
2
2
2 2
CO r w
w r CO
CO w
CO
CO CO
s k
s k
q q
q
s f
CO
w

+
=
+
=
Fractional Flow of CO
2
0.00
0.20
0.40
0.60
0.80
1.00
0 0.2 0.4 0.6
s
CO2
s
f
Fractional Flow of CO
2
0.00
0.20
0.40
0.60
0.80
1.00
0 0.2 0.4 0.6
s
CO2
s
f
Buckley-Leverett Solution
Saturation Distribution
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 50 100 150 200
r (m)
Saturation Distribution
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 50 100 150 200
r (m)
Buckley-Leverett Solution
Evaluating p
s.s.
r
dr
t r k
t r f
kh
q
t r p
f
w
CO
r
r
r
CO
CO
CO CO
w s s

=
) , (
) , (
2
) , (
2
2
2
2 2
. .


CO
2
Saturation
After 30 Days
0.0
0.5
1.0
0 50 100 150
r (m)
Numerical
Buckley Leverett
CO
2
Saturation
After 30 Days
0.0
0.5
1.0
0 50 100 150
r (m)
Numerical
Buckley Leverett
f
CO2
/k
rCO2
30 Days
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
0 50 100 150
r (m)
f
CO2
/k
rCO2
30 Days
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
0 50 100 150
r (m)
Assign a linear variation for f
CO
2
/k
r
CO
2
behind the front
Approximate Analytical Solution
) , ( ) , ( ) , (
. .
t r p t r p t r p
f t w s s w
+ =
(
(

+ =
(
(
(

|
|
.
|

\
|

|
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
80907 . ln
4
) , (
ln 1 1 ln
2
) , (
2
. .
2
2
2
2
2
2 2
f t w CO
w CO
f t
w
f
w f
w
r
r
CO
w
f
CO
CO CO
w s s
r c
kt
kh
q
t r p
r
r
r r
r
k
f
r
r
kh
q
t r p
f
CO




r
s
CO
2
=
Qt
h
f
CO
2
s
CO
2
s
CO
2
Fractional Flow of CO
2
0.00
0.25
0.50
0.75
1.00
0 0.2 0.4 0.6
s
CO2
s
f
Fractional Flow of CO
2
0.00
0.25
0.50
0.75
1.00
0 0.2 0.4 0.6
s
CO2
s
f
Typical Pressure Buildup
195
197
199
201
203
0 30 60 90 120 150 180
time (days)
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
s
)
k = 100 mD
h = 20 m
q
CO2
= 15.86 kg/s
initial pressure = 150 bars

CO2
= 6.5 e-5 Pa-s

CO2
= 715 kg/m
3
porosity = 0.12
195
197
199
201
203
0 30 60 90 120 150 180
time (days)
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
s
)
k = 100 mD
h = 20 m
q
CO2
= 15.86 kg/s
initial pressure = 150 bars

CO2
= 6.5 e-5 Pa-s

CO2
= 715 kg/m
3
porosity = 0.12
Semi-log Plot
195
197
199
201
203
0.10 1.00 10.00 100.00 1000.00
time (days)
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
s
)
0.5
0.7
0.9
1.1
1.3
1.5
S
l
o
p
e

(
b
a
r
s
)
Pressure Buildup
Slope
195
197
199
201
203
0.10 1.00 10.00 100.00 1000.00
time (days)
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
s
)
0.5
0.7
0.9
1.1
1.3
1.5
S
l
o
p
e

(
b
a
r
s
)
Pressure Buildup
Slope
kh
q
m
CO
CO CO
2
2 2
4

=
How Good Is the Approximate Solution?
Comparison to numerical simulation generated using
TOUGH2 (Pruess et al., 2001)
Pressure Buildup
190
195
200
205
210
0.01 0.10 1.00 10.00 100.00
time (days)
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
s
)
Numerical
sf=0.225
sf=0.23
Pressure Buildup
190
195
200
205
210
0.01 0.10 1.00 10.00 100.00
time (days)
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
s
)
Numerical
sf=0.225
sf=0.23
Summary
A new approximate analytical solution for
predicting pressure buildup during CO
2
injection
into brine formations has been developed
Comparison to numerical simulations verifies the
applicability of this solution to typical CO
2
sequestration scenarios
Pressure transient analysis may provide a useful
tool for monitoring CO
2
sequestration operations,
including:
Validation of multiphase flow processes
Front tracking
Detection of permeability changes from CO
2
injection