The Kimberlina synthetic multiphysics dataset for CO2 monitoring investigations

Abstract

We present a synthetic multi-scale, multi-physics dataset constructed from the Kimberlina 1.2 CO₂ reservoir model based on a potential CO₂ storage site in the Southern San Joaquin Basin of California. Among 300 models, one selected reservoir-simulation scenario produces hydrologic-state models at the onset and after 20 years of CO₂ injection. Subsequently, these models were transformed into geophysical properties, including P- and S-wave seismic velocities, saturated density where the saturating fluid can be a combination of brine and supercritical CO₂, and electrical resistivity using established empirical petrophysical relationships. From these 3D distributions of geophysical properties, we have generated synthetic time-lapse seismic, gravity and electromagnetic responses with acquisition geometries that mimic realistic monitoring surveys and are achievable in actual field situations. We have also created a series of synthetic well logs of CO₂ saturation, acoustic velocity, density and induction resistivity in the injection well and three monitoring wells. These were constructed by combining the low-frequency trend of the geophysical models with the high-frequency variations of actual well logs collected at the potential storage site. In addition, to better calibrate our datasets, measurements of permeability and pore connectivity have been made on cores of Vedder Sandstone, which forms the primary reservoir unit. These measurements provide the range of scales in the otherwise synthetic dataset to be as close to a real-world situation as possible. This dataset consisting of the reservoir models, geophysical models, simulated time-lapse geophysical responses and well logs forms a multi-scale, multi-physics testbed for designing and testing geophysical CO₂ monitoring systems as well as for imaging and characterization algorithms. The suite of numerical models and data have been made publicly available for downloading on the National Energy Technology Laboratory's (NETL) Energy Data Exchange (EDX) website.