A multiphysical-geochemical coupling model for caprock sealing efficiency in CO_(2) geosequestration

Precipitation or dissolution due to geochemical reactions has been observed in the caprocks for CO_(2) geosequestration.Geochemical reactions modify the caprock sealing efficiency with self-limiting or self-enhancement.However,the effect of this modification on the caprock sealing efficiency has not been fully investigated through multiphysical-geochemical coupling analysis.In this study,a multiphysical-geochemical coupling model was proposed to analyze caprock sealing efficiency.This coupling model considered the full couplings of caprock deformation,two-phase flow,CO_(2) concentration diffusion,geochemical reaction,and CO_(2) sorption.The two-phase flow only occurs in the fracture network and the CO_(2) may partially dissolve into water and diffuse through the concentration difference.The dissolved CO_(2) has geochemical reactions with some critical minerals,thus altering flow channels.The CO_(2) in the fracture network diffuses into matrix,causing the matrix swelling.This fully coupling model was validated with a penetration experiment on a cement cube and compared with two other models for CO_(2) storage plumes.Finally,the effects of geochemical reactions on penetration depth and pore pressure were studied through parametric study.The numerical simulations reveal that the coupling of geochemical reactions and matrix diffusion significantly affect the caprock sealing efficiency.Geochemical reactions occur at a short time after the arrival of CO_(2) concentration and modify the fracture porosity.The CO_(2) diffusion into the matrix requires a much longer time and mainly induces matrix swelling.These effects may produce selfenhancement or self-limiting depending on the flow rate in the fracture network,thus significantly modifying caprock sealing efficiency.

Propagation and sealing efficiency of chemical grouting in a two-dimensional fracture network with flowing water

In this study, an orthogonal array experiment is conducted by using a transparent fracture network replica. Image processing and theoretical analysis are performed to investigate the model sealing efficiency(SE), factors influencing SE, and the effect of flowing water on propagation. The results show that grout propagation can be classified into three patterns in the fracture network: sealing off, partial sealing,and major erosion. The factors controlling the SE in a descending order of the amount of influence are the initial water flow speed, fracture aperture, grout take, and gel time. An optimal value for the combination of the gel time and grout take(artificial factors) can result in a good SE. The grouting and seepage pressures are measured, and the results reveal that their variations can indicate the SE to some extent. The SE is good when the seepage pressure at each point increases overall;the frequent fluctuations in the seepage pressure indicate a moderately poor SE, and an overall decline in the seepage pressure indicates a major erosion type. The deflection effect of grouting shows an approximately elliptical propagation with the long axis expanding along the wider fracture opening, demonstrating further application in grouting design.

A simple approach for the estimation of CO_2 penetration depth into a caprock layer

Caprock is a water-saturated formation with a sufficient entry capillary pressure to prevent the upward migration of a buoyant fluid. When the entry capillary pressure of caprock is smaller than the pressure exerted by the buoyant CO2plume, CO2gradually penetrates into the caprock. The CO2penetration depth into a caprock layer can be used to measure the caprock sealing efficiency and becomes the key issue to the assessment of caprock sealing efficiency. On the other hand, our numerical simulations on a caprock layer have revealed that a square root law for time and pore pressure exists for the CO2penetration into the caprock layer. Based on this finding, this study proposes a simple approach to estimate the CO2penetration depth into a caprock layer. This simple approach is initially developed to consider the speed of CO2invading front. It explicitly expresses the penetration depth with pressuring time, pressure difference and pressure magnitude. This simple approach is then used to fit three sets of experimental data and good fittings are observed regardless of pressures, strengths of porous media, and pore fluids(water,hydrochloric acid, and carbonic acid). Finally, theoretical analyses are conducted to explore those factors affecting CO2penetration depth. The effects of capillary pressure, gas sorption induced swelling, and fluid property are then included in this simple approach. These results show that this simple approach can predict the penetration depth into a caprock layer with sufficient accuracy, even if complicated interactions in penetration process are not explicitly expressed in this simple formula.

Flow mechanism between purge flow and mainstream in different turbine rim seal configurations

The rim seal is used to prevent mainstream ingestion to the gap between the vane of a turbine and its blade. In this article, the dolphin lip with a hook configuration and a large seal cavity with hook structures are designed based on the high-pressure turbine datum single shark lip rim seal configuration. The sealing effect and parameters of the flow field are measured by an experiment method and a numerical simulation is used to explain the mechanism. For three configurations,the effect of the leakage slot vortex on the efficiency of the seal and the influence of leakage vortex,generated by the interaction between purge flow and mainstream flow, are discussed in depth. The result shows that the reverse vortex formed by the dolphin lip rim seal with hook structure will increase the sealing efficiency. The seal configuration with a large cavity improves sealing efficiency to a greater extent than the datum structure. At different purge flow rates and with unequal seal structures, the purge flow produces three types of leakage vortices in the passage. Besides, the seal configuration with dolphin lip produces a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability at the interface of the purge and the mainstream flows at a low purge flow rate to induce new leakage vortex branches in the passage of the blade.

Effect of protrusion amount on gas ingestion of radial rim seal

In this paper, the effect of different amount of protrusion on various parameters in rotor–stator system was experimentally studied by measuring CO_2 concentration and pressure, in order to obtain the optimal protrusion amount.The parameters of different dimensionless sealing flow were measured under the condition that the annulus Reynolds number was 4.39 × 10~5 and the rotating Reynolds number was 1.05 × 10~6.The results show that the change of the amount of protrusions has little effect on the static pressure in the cavity, and the static pressure change near the sealing ring is almost negligible.But the total pressure and sealing efficiency increase first and then decrease with the increase of the amount of protrusion.The variation of power consumption is the same.A complex vortex structure will appear at the high radius region when the protrusion is installed.On the other hand, the protrusion can effectively reduce the minimum sealing flow of the rotor–stator cavity.Furthermore, considering the sealing efficiency and power consumption,the best range of the protrusion amount is about 36.The ratio near this range can optimally balance the alleviation of the gas ingestion and the reduction of the power consumption.

Effect of the protrusion shape on gas ingestion of two sealing structures

The windage loss caused by protrusion in a rotor–stator cavity has been studied in detail,and there are abundant fitting formulas that have been summarized to calculate the moment coefficients.Some other theorists have emphasized its effect on the sealing efficiency,proposing that installation of protrusion could alleviate gas ingestion.However,the protrusion shape which is an influential factor on the sealing efficiency has not been focused in previous research.Using the experimental method of measuring CO2 volume fraction,cavity pressure,and power consumption,we investigated the effects of several typical protrusion shapes on various parameters for two sealing structures,in order to obtain the optimal shape.Results showed that a variation of the protrusion shape had little impact on the static pressure,but the total pressure and the sealing efficiency increased in different degrees.Furthermore,even though the hexagon shape resulted in the highest sealing efficiency,we observed that the drop shape had the best overall performance in all of the eight models,which could result in higher efficiency of the turbine cavity.The combination of a radial seal structure and protrusion could improve sealing efficiency better.

Influence of Secondary Sealing Flow on Performance of Turbine Axial Rim Seals

Purge flow is of great importance in cooling turbine disks and sealing rotor-stator disc cavity to reduce hot gas ingestion in gas turbines.The amount of cooling air extracted from the compressor is crucial to engine efficiency.Excessive sealing air will cause not only a reduction in work transfer but also an increase in aerodynamic losses caused by the mixing of main and sealing flow.In order to simplify rim seal structure while ensuring high sealing efficiency,the current paper optimizes the flow path of the secondary air system and presents a new rim seal structure with auxiliary sealing holes transporting a certain amount of secondary sealing flow.The new structure was compared with the conventional counterpart using validated CFD methods,showing that the additional secondary sealing flow is possible to improve sealing efficiency in disk cavity.The current paper investigates the secondary sealing flow with and without swirl(the angle of auxiliary sealing hole inclination is 0°and 45°respectively),while maintaining the total amount of the sealing flow,flowrate ratio of sealing air(main sealing flow rate versus secondary sealing flow rate=1:1,2:1,3:1,4:1),found that both two parameters have essential impacts on sealing efficiency.The relationship between these two parameters and sealing efficiency was obtained,and it provides a new philosophy for the design of rim seal in gas turbines.