HR: 1340h
AN: H13F-1660    [Abstracts]
TI: Vadose Zone Effects on the Signature of a CO2 Leak
AU: * Ogretim, E O
EM: egemen.ogretim@mail.wvu.edu
AF: West Virginia University, Civil and Environmental Engineering PO Box:6103, Morgantown, WV 26506-6103, United States
AU: Gray, D D
EM: donald.gray@mail.wvu.edu
AF: West Virginia University, Civil and Environmental Engineering PO Box:6103, Morgantown, WV 26506-6103, United States
AU: Bromhal, G S
EM: Grant.Bromhal@NETL.DOE.GOV
AF: National Energy Technology Laboratory, 3610 Collins Ferry Road P.O. Box 880, Morgantown, WV 26507-0880, United States
AU: Small, M J
EM: ms35@andrew.cmu.edu
AF: Carnegie-Mellon University, Civil and Environmental Engineering 5000 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890, United States
AU: Yang, Y
EM: yameiy@andrew.cmu.edu
AF: Carnegie-Mellon University, Civil and Environmental Engineering 5000 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890, United States
AB: Storing CO2 in geologic formations is one of the solutions proposed for reducing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. The potential risk of CO2 leakage from such reservoirs is a serious matter challenging the merit of this solution. As part of the monitoring, mitigating, and verification (MMV) effort, predicting the characteristics of a leak from a given reservoir has vital importance. Wellbores that penetrate the sequestration reservoir are considered one of the most critical potential leakage pathways. This study focuses on the behavior in the vadose zone of a CO2 plume that has leaked around a wellbore. Parametric studies using the TOUGH2 code have been performed focusing on the following factors: CO2 leak rate, thickness of the vadose zone, permeability of the uppermost soil layer, effect of plant roots, and water table slope. Real data from the Zero Emissions Research Technologies (ZERT) MMV testbed site have been used where possible to confirm model predictions. Also, 3D to 2D scaling issues, domain initialization, and grid requirements for numerical studies are discussed. The implications of this study for the design of future field experiments on leakage are discussed.
DE: 1803 Anthropogenic effects (4802, 4902)
DE: 1805 Computational hydrology
DE: 1846 Model calibration (3333)
DE: 1849 Numerical approximations and analysis
DE: 1875 Vadose zone
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting