Predicting plume spreading during CO2 geo-sequestration: benchmarking a new hybrid finite element–finite volume compositional simulator with asynchronous time marching

Abstract

In this paper, we present the results of benchmark simulations for plume spreading during CO2 geo-sequestration conducted with the newly developed Australian CO2 Geo-Sequestration Simulator (ACGSS). The simulator uses a hybrid finite element–finite volume (FEFVM) simulation framework, integrating an asynchronous local time stepping method for multi-phase multi-component transport and a novel non-iterative flash calculation approach for the phase equilibrium. The benchmark investigates four standard CO2 storage test cases that are widely used to assess the performance of simulation tools for carbon geo-sequestration: (A) radial flow from a CO2 injection well; (B) CO2 discharge along a fault z..