Influence of Small Scale Heterogeneity on CO2 Trapping Processes in Deep Saline Aquifers

Geological heterogeneities affect the dynamics of CO2 plumes in subsurface environments. Recent studies have led to new conceptual and quantitative models for sedimentary architecture in fluvial deposits over a range of scales that are relevant to the performance of some deep saline reservoirs. We investigated how the dynamics of a CO2 plume, during and after injection, is influenced by the hierarchical and multi-scale stratal architecture in such reservoirs. The results strongly suggest that representing small scales features (decimeter to meter), including their organization within a hierarchy of larger-scale features, is critical to understanding trapping processes.