Energy Geotechnics – Wuttke, Bauer & Sánchez (Eds)

© 2016 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-1-138-03299-6

A parametric sensitivity study on CO2 injection in deep saline aquifers

accounting for hydro-mechanical microfracturing

Alexandru Bogdan Tatomir

Department of Applied Geology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

Ingrid Tomac
Department of Structural Engineering, University of California San Diego, USA

Martin Sauter
Department of Applied Geology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

ABSTRACT: CO2 -injection in saline reservoirs requires studying of the geomechanical responses to estimate
the mechanical integrity of the reservoir- and cap-rock. Pressure build-up depends on the permeability and
compressibility of the reservoir rocks and fluids. Additionally, CO2 injection-induced pressure increase can
enhance the pre-existing micro-fractures and/or lead to the formation of new cracks. The current study evaluates
the sensitivity of critical parameters for the multiphase CO2 and brine flow in a fractured porous system. Two
numerical simulators are used to solve the CO2 -injection processes at micro- and field-scale.The PFC2D simulator
based on the Discrete Element Method (DEM) is used to model micro-scale stress induced damage, while 2p2c-
DuMux model is used to simulate the multiphase (CO2 -brine) flow in the porous system. This paper demonstrates
the capability of the linked approaches with 2p2c-DuMux -DEM for one case study on the injection of supercritical
CO2 at a pilot site located at Heletz, Israel. First, a parameter sensitivity study on the CO2 injection pressure on
the damage of the reservoir sandstone and caprock is performed. Further, the hydro-mechanical effects of current
pilot scale (10,000 t) CO2 injection and those of an industrial scale (>100,000 t) are compared. The results show
that the sandstone reservoir rock, at in-situ stress and pore-pressures, is likely to suffer failure, which changes
the effective flow properties affecting the plume migration dynamics. The results improve the understanding of
the implications of industrial scale GSC.

Keywords: geological carbon dioxide storage (GCS), deep saline aquifers, discrete element method, micro-
fracturing, permeability change

1 INTRODUCTION (e.g., Luo and Bryant, 2014), while the mechanical

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) in geological for-
mations, or geological carbon storage (GCS), repre-
sents a viable solution for reducing the increasing
carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere (Bachu,
2015; Celia et al., 2015; Cook et al., 2014; IPCC,
2005). Sandstone rock represents the lithology of
approximately 50% of the small-scale GCS injection
projects (less than 100,000 tonnes of injected CO2),
respectively, 75% of the large scale injection projects
(Cook et al., 2014).
The CO2 injection rates must be selected appropri-
ately in order to satisfy the economic and operational
considerations. However, the rate of injection should
not affect the stability of the system (Eshiet and Sheng,
2013). Large masses of injected CO2 can induce in-
situ stresses and deformations in the reservoir and the
cap rock, which can cause changes of the hydraulic
properties (Hu et al., 2010). Cooling down of the stor-
age formation leads to temperature induced stresses
stresses are caused by increased reservoir pressure
(Hou et al., 2012; Rutqvist et al., 2008). As a result,
irreversible mechanical changes can create new frac-
tures or reactivate old ones, which constitute leakage
pathways for the CO2.
The elastic and strength properties of the reservoir
rock and induced micro-cracks define the hydro-
mechanical behaviour of the reservoir. Brittle and/or
weakly consolidated sandstone reservoir rocks tend to
fail under the tensile-shear failure mechanism induced
by CO2 injection. Real-time crack coalescence pro-
cess in sandstone rock has been investigated in several
experimental studies, e.g., (Yang et al., 2015a) and
numerically using a two-dimensional particle flow
code (PFC2D) (Yang et al., 2015b). Permeability
changes during rock damage and cracking have been
investigated through a number of laboratory experi-
ments (Hu et al., 2010) and studies (Homand-Etienne
et al., 1998; Levasseur et al., 2013; Shao et al., 2005).
Yang et al., (2015a) define a relationship between

223
permeability and deformation, identifying five phases.
A recent review of advancement of permeability evolu-
tion models for fractured porous media is given in (Ma,
2015). Fluid permeability of sedimentary rocks in a
complete stress-strain process is discussed in (Wang
and Park, 2002).
Standard macroscopic multiphase multi-component
models usually do not take into account the changes
in hydraulic parameters (e.g., permeability) occurring
during the injection of fluid (Class et al., 2009, 2002;
Nordbotten et al., 2012; Tatomir et al., 2011). Never-
theless, there are several coupled numerical models
to account for thermos-hydro-mechanical processes
under multi-phase conditions (e.g., Hou et al., 2012;
Rutqvist et al., 2008, 2002; Rutqvist and Tsang, 2002).
The literature review has shown that the rock
permeability evolution is directly related to the dis-
tribution, opening and coalescence of induced micro-
cracks. Furthermore, the determination of hydraulic
and poroelastic properties with the evolution of rock
damage is a challenging research topic.
Numerical and theoretical work has been performed
to study damage of the basement rock and caprock
during a CO2 injection by several researchers. Rutqvist
and Tsang (2005) used coupled TOUGH2-FLAC3D
computer codes to study hydromechanical changes in
a caprock during CO2 disposal in brine formations.
They obtained a general reduction in the effective mean
stress in the lower part of the caprock, indicating a
possible rock failure. Shear reactivation seems to be
more likely than the probability of fracturing and shear
under poro-elastic stresses induced by slow increase
in pressure during the injection period (Rutqvist, Wu,
Tsang, & Bodvarsson, 2002). Cerasi and Walle (2016)
conducted tests on weak sandstone outcrop samples,
in order to assess whether sequences of injection of a
pore fluid and shut-in could have a destabilizing effect
on the borehole wall of the hollow cylinder specimen.
The tests showed no signs of fatigue weakening under
cycling injection, for low injection pressure and high
confinement of the sample (Cerasi and Walle, 2016).
Large CO2 injection over 10 000 years’ period was
modeled by Liu et al. (2010). However, the emphasis
is given to hydro mechanical and chemical processes
Figure 1. Schematic representation of the modelling work-
flow DuMux – PFC2D .
224
over years (Liu et al., 2011). Rathnaweera et al. (2016)
found that the significant rock mass mineralogical
structure alterations enhance the permeability of the
aquifer by the long term CO2 reaction. The pore struc-
ture changes caused by the CO2 reaction also affect
the effective stress response of the aquifer rock mass
(Rathnaweera et al., 2016).
In this study two numerical simulators are used to
solve the CO2 -injection processes at micro- and field-
scale. The PFC2d simulator based on the Discrete
Element Method (DEM) is used to model micro-
scale stress induced damage, while the two-phase
two-component (2p2c) model within the numerical
toolbox DuMux is used to simulate the field-scale
multiphase/multi-component (CO2 -brine) flow and
transport in the (fractured) porous system.
The objective of this paper is to investigate the capa-
bility of the linked approaches with DuMux -DEM for
one case study on the injection of supercritical CO2 at
a pilot site located at Heletz, Israel. First, a parame-
ter sensitivity study on the CO2 injection pressure on
the damage of the reservoir sandstone and caprock is
performed. Further, the hydro-mechanical effects of
current pilot scale (10,000 t) CO2 injection and those
of an industrial scale (>100,000 t) are compared.
2 METHODOLOGY
2.1 Simulation environment
The two codes are coupled sequentially; the output of
one code being used by the other. DuMux two-phase
two-component model simulates the reservoir-scale
supercritical CO2-brine flow and uses an input func-
tion obtained from the DEM model, which relates local
porosity and permeability to the fluid pressure and the
degree of damage. The general simulation procedure
is illustrated in Figure 1.
A relationship between permeability change and
stress is determined with the PFC2D model to be used
by the large(field)-scale 2p2c-Dumux simulator. How-
ever, PFC2D model uses as first input the pressure
ranges attained in the reservoir due to CO2 injection,
calculated with no hydro-mechanical effects by the
2p2c model.
2.2 Discrete element method (DEM)
The DEM defines a system of particles that are repre-
sented by finite spherical or discs particles and walls in
PFC2D . The calculation cycle in PFC2D (Cundall and
Strack, 1979; Itasca, 2004) is a time-stepping algo-
rithm that consists of the repeated application of the
Law of Motion to each particle, a Force-displacement
Law to each contact, and a constant updating of wall
positions.The motions of particles and walls are solved
using the explicit finite difference scheme.
The Bonded-particle model (BPM) for rock is intro-
duced in PFC2D with the pre-scribed procedures that
are used to determine the mechanical parameters of
the synthetic rock mass (Potyondy, 2007; Potyondy
and Cundall, 2004). The parallel bond is a component
within the particle contact and can be pictured as a
cementitious material at the particles contact that is
able to transfer forces and moments from one parti-
cle to another. Such a bond can be envisioned as a
set of elastic springs with constant normal and shear
stiffness uniformly distributed over either a circular
or rectangular cross-section lying on the contact plane
and centered at the contact point. After the parallel
bond has been created between neighboring particles,
the relative motion at the contact causes normal and
shear stresses to develop within the bonded material, as
a result of the parallel-bond stiffness. If either of these
stresses exceeds its corresponding maximum strength,
the parallel bond breaks. The parameters required to
model the parallel bond are normal and shear strength
and stiffness.
Mechanical parameters of the resulting solid com-
prised of the bonded particles are modeled indirectly
by implementing an iterative procedure for obtaining
the parallel bond parameters. For rock mass modeling,
usually the Direct tension test, the Brazilian test, the
unconfined compression tests (UCS) and the triaxial
tests are used.
A fracture can propagate within the bonded parti-
cles assembly by breaking the bonds between parti-
cles. For low porosity solids the flow pathways may
be assumed to consist of parallel-plate channels at
contacts accompanied with artificial fluid reservoirs
scheme for calculation (Figure 2).
The aperture of such a channel is proportional to the
normal displacement at corresponding contacts. In the
case of bonded material, the channel opening will not
increase from its initial value unless the bond is broken,
and the adjacent particles distance increases. Pressures
stored in fluid reservoirs are updated during the fluid
calculation, and act on the surrounding particles as
equivalent forces. Each channel is a link between two
adjacent fluid reservoirs. As far as the fluid is con-
cerned, the channel is equivalent to a parallel-plate
channel, with the length L, the aperture a, and the unit
depth in the out-of-plane dimension.
2.3 Two phase two component (2p2c) simulator
(DuMux )
The two phase two component simulator isother-
mal (2p2c) model is developed in the DuMux
(www.dumux.org) numerical toolbox (Flemisch et al.,
2011). DuMux is a simulator for flow and transport
Figure 2. The BPM scheme with fluid channels and reser-
voirs for hydraulic fracturing.
225
processes in porous media build as a modular tool-
box. The partial differential equations for multiphase
flow and transport are for solved with grid-based meth-
ods such as the vertex-centered finite volume scheme
(box method, Helmig, 1997; Huber and Helmig, 2000).
The implicit Euler method is applied for the temporal
discretization. The 2p2c model was benchmarked in
several studies, e.g. (Class et al., 2009; Nordbotten
et al., 2012).
The mathematical model on which 2p2c is con-
structed comprise the mass balance equations for each
phase and each component. The starting assumption
is that the medium is a continuum where the extended
Darcy’s law (Bear, 1972; Helmig, 1997) is valid.
The resulting set of equations are closed with the
constitutive relationships for capillary pressure and
knowing the sum of saturations is 1. A description of
the basic mathematical model for 2p2c is given in for
instance in (Flemisch et al., 2011), or in (Tatomir et al.,
2015) an extension of 2p2c to include reactive tracer
transport. The 2p2c standard model as provided in the
free open-source repository (www.dumux.org) is fur-
ther developed to account for the permeability changes
induced by the pressure effects of CO2 injection.
2.4 Heletz sandstone reservoir
Heletz, Israel (Niemi et al., 2016; Tatomir et al., 2016)
is the location for an onshore deep saline CO2 stor-
age pilot site. ‘Heletz sandstone’ is the building unit
of the deep saline CO2 storage pilot site. The physi-
cal and geomechanical properties of Heletz sandstone
are given in (Edlmann et al., 2016; Elhami et al.,
2016; Niemi et al., 2016; Tatomir et al., 2016). A
series of destructive and non-destructive tests have
been performed on core sample material showing that
the reservoir sandstone is extremely weak with respect
to its depth of deposition (>1600 m) (Elhami et al.,
2016). The sandstone is poorly cemented and little
consolidated as shown by SEM images in Figure 3.
Small micro-cracks (1–5 mm long) are present acting
as preferential flow paths and influencing the hydraulic
behaviour.
Figure 3. Heletz sandstone core sample analysis from CO2
Pilot Site. Thin section and SEM images showing the mineral
conglomerate of quartz grains interconnected by clayey and
carbonatic cement. Right hand side: μCT image revealing a
micro-crack (after Tatomir et al., 2016).
 From permeameter tests on the sandstone sample
tested under triaxial compression it was found that
the permeability is not a constant, but changes with
the stress and strain in the rock. (Yang et al., 2015a)
came to similar observations. However, is varying
between 50 and 700 mD. An accepted value obtained
from pumping tests is 400 mD which is going to
be used in this study. The porosity is 23.2%. The
Brooks-Corey (BC) parameters for capillary pressure-
saturation relationship are λ = 0,762 and entry pres-
sure Pe = 3861,2 Pa. These parameters are obtained
from core experiments and showed high variability
(Niemi et al., 2016).
Viscous fluid flows into the specimen at a constant
flow rate on the left boundary, and the pressure dif-
ferences across the model are recorded at prescribed
times during the test. The final pressure difference is
recorded following the test convergence, as shown in
Figure 6.
The numerical relationship between the initial
average synthetic rock permeability and the model
Table 1. Micro-mechanical properties of BPM,
Rmin = minimum particle radius; Rmax = maximum par-
ticle radius; fi = particle friction coefficient; Pb_kn = parallel
bond normal stiffness; Pb_ks = parallel bond shear stiffness;
Pb_sstr = parallel bond shear strength; Pb_nstr = parallel bond
normal strength.

3 RESULTS Parameter Value

3.1 DEM sandstone model calibration Rmin (mm) 0.00025

2D Rmax /Rmin (−) 1.66
Text PFC synthetic sandstone mechanical properties fi (−) 0.5
are matched with the available data from the labora- γ (kg/m3 ) 2670.0
tory tests performed on the Heletz sandstone and for Pb_kn (GPa) 10.0
weakly bonded sandstones (Tatomir et al., 2016. In Pb_ks (GPa) 3.5
press; (Elhami et al., 2016; Haimson and Lee, 2004; Pb_sstr (MPa) 44.0 ± 15
Lin et al., 2009). The obtained micro and macro param- Pb_nstr (MPa) 10.0 ± 3.5
eters are shown in Tables 1 and 2. The boundary and
initial conditions, as well as, the CO2 parameters are
shown in Tables 3 and 4. Figure 4 shows the initial and Table 2. Macro-mechanical properties of BPM compared
boundary conditions. to the average granite and sandstone (Elhami, Ask, & Matts-
The permeability of the synthetic sandstone son, 2016; Haimson & Lee, 2004; Lin, Fakhimi, Haggerty, &
depends on the particle size and the initial aperture Labuz, 2009; Tatomir et al., 2016. In press).
of the fluid channels. Therefore, it is not possible to
directly set the initial permeability. Modeling perme- Tensile Young’s Fracture Poisson’s
ability laboratory tests permits obtaining an average Setting Strength Modulus Toughness Ratio
DEM model permeability. Simulation of permeability σt E KIC √ ν
(MPa) (GPa) (MPa m) (−)
tests in PFC2D uses the constant flow technique, which
is suitable for testing low permeability geo-materials
PFC2D 3.1 31.9 0.24 0.23
(Nakajima, Takeda, & Zhang, 2007; Olsen, 1966). The Sandstone
Darcy flow equation is used for determining the aver- Heletz 1.8–4.4 24.0–32.0 0.28 0.22
age permeability of the tested rock sample with the
prescribed initial width of fluid flow channels. Dur-
ing cycling, the bond-breakage is disabled by setting
the bond strengths unrealistically high. The no bond- Table 3. Boundary conditions of the model, where x is hori-
breakage model enables use of high flow rates and low zontal axes and y is vertical axes in the model (representation
of two dimensional field conditions, x is in the direction of
fluid dynamic viscosities, which aids in computational the fluid flow and horizontal, y is vertical).
time saving. The tested rock sample has dimensions
0.015 × 0.015 m (Figure 5). Parameter Magnitude

σmin (MPa) 16.4

σmax (MPa) 1.66
pp (MPa) 15.7

Table 4. Fluid injection properties (single-phase flow).

Parameter Magnitude

μ (Pa·s) 52.64·10−6
ρ (kg/m3 ) 662.08
Figure 4. Initial, boundary conditions and the DEM model
E (MPa) 32.26
size for lightly cemented sandstone.

226

Figure 5. Initial and final DEM model snapshot for perme-
ability measurement.
Figure 6. Initial permeability testing example of the syn-
thetic sandstone without bond breakage.
Figure 7. The numerical relationship between the initial
average synthetic rock permeability and the initial fluid
channel aperture in the model.
parameter of initial fluid flow channel is estab-
lished and shown in Figure 7. Initial synthetic
rock permeability is calibrated for published val-
ues of average grain size and measured permeability
(k = 3.95 · 10−13 m2 = 400 mD) of the Heletz sand-
stone (Tatomir et al., 2016. In Press; Elhami et al.,
2016).
3.2 Sandstone permeability and gas pressure
relationship DEM modeling
The DEM synthetic sandstone model was used to
investigate effects of gas pressurization on micro-
mechanical damage and permeability evolution. Fig-
ure 8a-d shows the vertical two dimensional section
of the sandstone near the wellbore, with dimensions
50 × 50 cm. Boundary far-field total stress field in
imposed to the model are the same as specified in
227
Figure 8. Gas flow into the saturated sample, where
the left hand boundary pressure is a) Pg = 17,0 MPa, b)
Pg = 20,0 MPa, c) Pg = 25,0, MPa, d) Pg = 30,0 MPa and
reservoir initial pore pressure is Pp = 15,6 MPa.
Figure 9. Pressure profiles across the 50 cm wide sample at
early times (t1 = 1377 s, t2 = 2760 s) for the left-hand fixed
pressures Pg = 17.0 MPa, Pg = 20.0 MPa, Pg = 25.0 MPa
and Pg = 30.0 MPa.
Figure 4 (maximum compressive stress is in the verti-
cal direction σv,max = 42.7 MPa, minimum horizontal
compressive stress σv,min = 15.7 MPa). The horizontal
in-situ total stress is estimated based on the earth pres-
sure at rest K0 = 1 − sin φ, with the internal sandstone
friction angle of φ = 38◦ . The in-situ stresses are cal-
culated based on the total unit weight of the sandstone
material at the depth of h = 1600 m. The initial pore
pressure is obtained using the unit weight of the water
and depth h = 1600 m, and is Pp = 15.6 MPa.
The wellbore is assumed to be on the left side of
the model. Green colored area represents the saturated
sandstone, while blue lines are broken parallel bonds
between DEM particles. The broken bonds denote the
micro-cracks and damage caused by infiltration of
pressurized gas into rock. The simulations were estab-
lished for a small time, in order to observe the effect
of pressure to rock damage.
Figure 9 accompanies the Figure 8, where the actual
pressure profiles are plotted across the width of the
model at times 22.95 and 45.9 min after beginning of
injection. It can be observed that differences in the
pressure profiles are indeed recognizable.
The area where micro cracks occurred due to
gas pressurization is isolated for permeability mea-
surements. First, a set of new significantly smaller
Figure 10. Figure 7. Micro cracks developed in the biaxi-
ally compressed sample with initial dimensions 15 × 15 cm,
where σv,max = 42.7 MPa and σh,min = 15,7 MPa, for gas
pore pressures a) Pg = 17.0 MPa, b) Pg = 20.0 MPa and c)
Pg = 25.0 MPa.

Figure 12. a) CO2 pressure spatial distribution after 10 hour

of injection; b) CO2 Saturation spatial distribution after 40
days of injection.

Figure 11. Horizontal permeability change in the

biaxially confined sample, where σv,max = 42.7 MPa
and σh,min = 15.7 MPa, for gas pore pressures Pg =
17.0–25.0 MPa (kin = 3.95 · 10−13 m2 = 400 mD).

synthetic sandstone models are subjected to the same

initial and boundary conditions. Second, the pore pres-
sure is increased thorough the entire model which is
cycled for some time to reach equilibrium. The devel-
opment of micro cracks is evident for even small
pore pressure increase, indicating breakage of bonds
between DEM particles or sandstone grains. Figure
10 shows micro cracks (blue lines) in the pressurized
models. It can be also observed that the higher pore
pressure in Figure 10c causes larger deformation of the
model in the horizontal direction with the minimum
far-field confinement.
After obtaining the equilibrium of the model, the
permeability is measured in the horizontal direction.
The obtained relationship between the gas pressure
and the new average model horizontal permeability
is shown in Figure 11.
Figure 13. Comparison between static and dynamic –
hydro-mechanical (HM) models expressed as parameter vari-
3.3 Field scale CO2 migration ation with time at location x = 50 m, y = 50 m from the
injection well on top of the reservoir (z = 15 m): a) CO2
Following the DEM micro-scale models, the forward saturation; b) CO2 pressure; c) change in permeability.
simulation of CO2 injection at the field-scale. Due to
its symmetry the domain size of the modeled reservoir
is reduced to a 400 m by 400 m (with 15 m thickness), function (hydro-mechanical model) and another one
which only one quarter of the entire domain. with no permeability change (static model).The results
The first (static) field-scale CO2 saturation and are depicted in Figure 13. It can be observed that the
pressure profiles resulted from 2p2c model with a CO2 front does suffer almost no change. However, the
constant injection rate of 10 t/h are shown in Fig- changes in non-wetting phase permeability are visible
ure 12a) and b) and the corresponding breakthrough even though they are quite small (16.15 MPa in the
curves (non-wetting saturation – Sn and pressure – pn) HM model and 16.05 in the static model). Permeabil-
in Figure 14. The influence of the hydro-mechanical ity changes are plotted in Figure 13c. As expected the
effects on the reservoir performance is identified by static model has no change due to pressure whereas
comparing a numerical model using the permeability the HM model increases from 4e-13 to 5e-13 m2 .

228

Figure 14. Breakthrough curves of CO2 and pressure in the
location of the injection well.
Figure 15. Comparison between CO2 plume profile at
10,000 t (top) and 100,000 t (bottom) injected.
4 CONCLUSIONS
In spite of the fact that lot of research has been done
on chemical damage of sandstone formations dur-
ing CO2 injections, relatively little effort has been
dedicated to better understanding of the mechanical
damage in weak sandstones due to high gas pressure
during injection. This paper shows results of DEM
modeling of Heletz sandstone samples which are sub-
jected to different pore pressure increases due to CO2
injection. It was found that increased pore pressures
cause mechanical damage in forms of breaking bonds
between sandstone and causing increase in formation
permeability. Significant micro cracking was accom-
panied with deformation of the samples in the direction
of minimum in-situ stress at high pressures.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research has received funding from the European
Community’s 7th Framework Programme through the
TRUST (Grant agreement no. 309067) project.
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