Storing CO2 in geothermal reservoir rocks from the Kizildere field, Turkey: Combined stress, temperature, and pore fluid dependence of seismic properties

Martijn T.G. Janssen*, Deyan Draganov, Auke Barnhoorn, Karl Heinz A.A. Wolf

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

35 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

As part of a seismic monitoring project in a geothermal field, where the feasibility of re-injection and storage of produced CO2 is being investigated, a P- and S-wave seismic velocity characterisation study was carried out. The effect of axial and radial (up to 42 MPa) stress, pore pressure (up to 17 MPa), pore fluid (100% brine or supercritical CO2) and temperature (21–100 °C) on seismic properties were studied in the laboratory for the two main reservoir formations at the Kızıldere geothermal reservoir. Each (un)confined compressive strength test performed revealed a similar trend: rapidly increasing velocity at low stresses followed by a more moderate increase at higher stresses. The data implied that the stress-dependency of the velocity increased with temperature. Increasing temperatures resulted in decreasing P-wave velocities due to mineral thermal expansion. This temperature-dependency increased with reducing stress levels. The S-wave velocity seems to be more sensitive to changes in pore pressure than the P-wave velocity. On the other hand, the S-wave velocity is less affected by an increasing axial stress compared to the P-wave velocity. By performing multiple nonlinear regression on the velocity dataset, related to a brine-saturated fractured marble, second-degree polynomial trends were found for the P- and S-wave velocity, as a function of temperature, axial stress, and pore pressure, that can potentially be used for predicting velocities at Kızıldere, or other similar, geothermal site(s). For distinguishing between a 100% brine-saturated versus a fully supercritical CO2-saturated fracture, the arrival times of the first arrivals were too close to each other to allow their utilization. The fracture aperture was too small compared to the wavelength of the source signal. However, differences in P- and S-wave amplitudes of the first arrivals were seen, where the supercritical CO2-saturated crack revealed consistently lower peak and trough amplitudes compared to the brine-saturated scenario.

Original languageEnglish
Article number102615
Number of pages16
JournalGeothermics
Volume108
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Keywords

  • CO storage
  • Fracture permeability
  • Fractured reservoir
  • Geothermal energy
  • Rock mechanics
  • Seismic velocity

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Storing CO2 in geothermal reservoir rocks from the Kizildere field, Turkey: Combined stress, temperature, and pore fluid dependence of seismic properties'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this