Impact of Well Configuration on CO2 Injection for Energy Exploitation in Geothermal/Geopressured Reservoirs

Abstract

Injecting dissolved CO2 into deep saline aquifers is one of the more promising methods of alleviating greenhouse gas emissions. By simultaneously extracting the geothermally-heated brine in the aquifer, there is an opportunity to offset the energy consumption required by carbon capture and storage. This study uses a simulation tool to explore the effect of well placement on CO2-storing efficiency. Eight models with different well configurations were tried on a homogeneous aquifer. The study found that storing efficiency was heavily reliant on distance, especially vertical, between the wells and the vertical- to horizontal permeability ratio. For a given aquifer model, there exists a depth differential between wells that optimize injection- and production rates versus gas-breakthrough time.