Chemical reaction modeling in a subsurface flow simulator with application to in-situ upgrading and CO2 mineralization
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Chemical reactions occur in a number of subsurface flow processes. Numerical modeling is an essential tool for understanding and optimizing complex reactive flows in a variety of application areas. In this work, we propose and implement chemical reaction modeling capabilities in Stanford's General Purpose Research Simulator (GPRS). The formulations developed include a procedure based on species conservation equations and an approach based on element conservation equations. The species-based formulation is suitable for solving reactive flow problems characterized by kinetic reactions only. In the element-based formulation, by contrast, both equilibrium and kinetic reactions can be treated consistently in the fully coupled system. This procedure represents a new treatment for reactive flow modeling. Additionally, in both formulations, a new generic representation of reaction terms is developed, which allows simultaneous modeling of homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions within or among phases (i.e., gas, liquid, water and solid phases). We apply the species-based formulation to model the in-situ upgrading of oil shale. Oil shale is a highly abundant but difficult to produce energy resource. The in-situ upgrading process entails heating the oil shale to about 700 F, at which point the kerogens decompose to gas and liquid hydrocarbons through a series of chemical reactions. After adjusting a few uncertain parameters (within physical ranges), our simulation results show relatively close agreement with available field data. The other application considered in this work is the modeling of carbon storage in deep saline aquifers. Detailed results are presented for a fine-grid model of a benchmark study. For this case, chemical reactions are not considered. Carbon mineralization reactions are then modeled using the element-based reactive flow formulation. Coarse-grid models are used for these simulations. Because the chemistry data relevant to carbon mineralization are, to date, not fully defined, we provide simulation results using available chemistry parameters. We discuss the remaining challenges that must be overcome before mineralization reactions can be simulated on fine-grid models. We note finally that the chemical reaction modeling capabilities in GPRS can be extended to other subsurface reactive flow processes (e.g., enhanced coalbed methane recovery).
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2010 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Fan, Ya Qing |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Energy Resources Engineering |
| Primary advisor | Durlofsky, Louis |
| Primary advisor | Tchelepi, Hamdi |
| Thesis advisor | Durlofsky, Louis |
| Thesis advisor | Tchelepi, Hamdi |
| Thesis advisor | Kovscek, Anthony R. (Anthony Robert) |
| Advisor | Kovscek, Anthony R. (Anthony Robert) |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Yaqing Fan. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Energy Resources Engineering. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph. D.)--Stanford University, 2010. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2010 by Ya Qing Fan
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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