EASY GEO-CARBON proposes an integrated experimental-modeling workflow to substantially improve the knowledge of CO2 interactions with rocks and their potential impacts on short- and long-term response of the subsurface to CO2 storage. To achieve this goal, we will inject CO2 into reservoir rock samples in the laboratory under representative underground conditions to reach an in-depth understanding and develop a mathematical formulation of coupled Hydraulic-Mechanical-Chemical (HMC) processes that occur in rock as a result of CO2 injection. We will incorporate the model into an open-access numerical code and validate it by reproducing laboratory observations. We will finally use this numerical tool to simulate megatonne-scale CO2 injection at two sites. The developed knowledge of coupled HMC processes in rock during CO2 injection puts more reliable constraints on reservoir injectivity and storage capacity and provides a more realistic understanding of the risks associated with induced seismicity and CO2 leakage towards the surface, two obstacles that in part fed into delays in widespread deployment of Carbon Capture and Storage in deep geological formations, also referred to as geologic carbon storage. Thus, the successful development of EASY GEO-CARBON will pave the way for optimized geologic carbon storage and its rapid and vast scale-up.
Funding: MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR in the framework of International Collaboration Projects- MSCA IF-ST 2020 under grant agreement number PCI2021-122077-2B
