Robust CO2 plume imaging by joint tomographic inversion using distributed pressure and temperature measurements

Abstract

The scientific community has become increasingly interested in geological CO₂ sequestration and CO₂ enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The tracking of the CO₂ propagation in both space and time during geologic sequestration is necessary to ensure the secure and effective handling of a site for CO₂ injection. Our objective is to develop efficient and novel models and monitoring techniques for visualizing CO₂ plumes using field measurements. As a first step, the streamline-based data integration approach is extended to include data from distributed temperature sensors (DTS). The DTS and pressure data are then jointly history matched using a hierarchical workflow combining evolutionary and streamline methods. As a final step, we will create maps that visualize CO₂ propagation during the sequestration process based on saturation and streamline maps. We validate the extended streamline-based inversion method using a synthetic model. An application of the hierarchical workflow is then made to the CO₂ geologic storage test site in Michigan, USA. Monitoring data includes bottom-hole pressure of the injection well, DTS data at the monitoring well, and distributed pressure measurements from several downhole sensors along the monitoring well. Based on the history matching results, the CO₂ movement is largely limited to the zones intended for injection, which is in agreement with an independent warmback analysis of the temperature data. The novelty of this work is the extension of the streamline-based inversion algorithm for the DTS data, its field application to the Department of Energy regional carbon sequestration project, and potential extensions to other CO₂-EOR and/or associated geological storage projects.