Coupling Flow and Geomechanics to Model Fault Reactivation in CO2 Storage Operations

Summary Fluid withdrawal/injection in deep geological formations is required in many industrial activities, such as hydrocarbon and water production, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), and geothermal applications. Land subsidence and induced seismicity are typical downsides of such activities, triggered by the coupling between fluid flow in porous media and rock deformation. Therefore, predictive modelling of these processes is fundamental to make field operations safer, avoid environmental damage or economical loss. In this work, we present a flexible coupling framework based on a fixed-stress sequential approach in which flow (either black-oil or compositional) and mechanics are solved sequentially by means of independent packages. Our coupling infrastructure has been validated against mainstream benchmark models and has been used to simulate CO2 injection in a synthetic faulted reservoir. This model provides an experimental platform to evaluate the impact of reservoir geometry and rock properties on fault stability, as well as accuracy and computational cost of the numerical solution using various coupling techniques.