Flow Mechanics for Geological CO2 Storage

Course Description

This one-day course covers the fundamentals of flow in porous media, essential for the safe and efficient planning and operation of geological CO2 storage. After completing the course you will be able to explain why fluids move in a reservoir and how these movements can be modelled with the help of Darcy’s law and the principle of mass conservation. You will be able to discuss what controls the pressure diffusion through a reservoir. Further you will be able to describe the physical phenomena that control the dynamics at the pore-scale when CO2 displaces resident fluids in the reservoir and how these processes impact the dynamics of CO2 over the large volumes and timescales that are needed for geological CO2 storage. Last, you will be able to apply models and simple simulators to investigate dynamic storage capacities, pressure build up and leakage risks.

About the Instructor

Professor Florian Doster (PhD, Stuttgart University, 2011) is Professor for Multi-Scale Multi-Phase Flow Modelling in the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering at Heriot-Watt University and Program Director for Subsurface Energy Systems. His research interests include the study of multi-physics multi-phase flow phenomena in porous media and their appropriate physical and mathematical description across length and time scales. He focuses on phenomena related to CO2 storage, flow in fractured porous media and hysteretic phenomena such as trapping. His research is funded by the ACT (BEIS), EuropeanCommission, US Department of Energy, the Scottish Energy Technology Partnership, Norwegian Research Council, Foundation CMG, TotalEnergies, BP and Petronas.