Numerical Simulation and Analysis of Migration Law of Gas Mixture Using Carbon Dioxide as Cushion Gas in Underground Gas Storage Reservoir

One of the major technical challenges in using carbon dioxide( CO2) as part of the cushion gas of the underground gas storage reservoir( UGSR) is the mixture of CO2and natural gas. To decrease the mixing extent and manage the migration of the mixed zone,an understanding of the mechanism of CO2and natural gas mixing and the diffusion of the mixed gas in aquifer is necessary. In this paper,a numerical model based on the three dimensional gas-water two-phase flow theory and gas diffusion theory is developed to understand this mechanism. This model is validated by the actual operational data in Dazhangtuo UGSR in Tianjin City,China.Using the validated model,the mixed characteristic of CO2and natural gas and the migration mechanism of the mixed zone in an underground porous reservoir is further studied. Particularly,the impacts of the following factors on the migration mechanism are studied: the ratio of CO2injection,the reservoir porosity and the initial operating pressure. Based on the results,the optimal CO2injection ratio and an optimal control strategy to manage the migration of the mixed zone are obtained. These results provide technical guides for using CO2as cushion gas for UGSR in real projects.

Air pressure law of a reservoir constructed in karst sinkholes

Karst sinkholes with natural negative landform provide favorable conditions for the pumped storage reservoir construction for less excavation work.However,the construction of the reservoir would plug the natural karst channels for water and air,which would cause remarkable air pressure in karst channels when the groundwater level fluctuates.A large laboratory simulation test was carried out to study the air pressure variation of a reservoir built on the karst sinkhole.The air pressure in the karst channel and inside the model was monitored during the groundwater rising and falling process.Result showed that the variation of air pressure in the karst channel and the surrounding rock exhibited a high degree of similarity.The air pressure increased rapidly at the initial stage of water level rising,followed by a slight decrease,then the air pressure increased sharply when the water level approached the top of the karst cave.The initial peak of air pressure and the final peak of air pressure were defined,and both air pressure peaks were linearly increasing with the water level rising rate.The negative air pressure was also analyzed during the drainage process,which was linearly correlated with the water level falling rate.The causes of air pressure variation in karst channels of a pumped storage reservoir built on the karst sinkhole were discussed.The initial rapid increase,then slight decrease and final sudden increase of air pressure were controlled by the combined effects of air compression in karst channel and air seepage into the surrounding rock.For the drainage process,the instant negative air pressure and gradual recovering of air pressure were controlled by the combined effects of negative air pressure induced by water level falling and air supply from surrounding rock.This work could provide valuable reference for the reservoir construction in karst area.

Stress sensitivity of formation during multi-cycle gas injection and production in an underground gas storage rebuilt from gas reservoirs

Permeability sensitivity to stress experiments were conducted on standard core samples taken from Wen 23 Gas Storage at multi-cycle injection and production conditions of the gas storage to study the change pattern of stress sensitivity of permeability.A method for calculating permeability under overburden pressure in the multi-cycle injection and production process was proposed,and the effect of stress sensitivity of reservoir permeability on gas well injectivity and productivity in UGS was analyzed.Retention rate of permeability decreased sharply first and then slowly with the increase of the UGS cycles.The stress sensitivity index of permeability decreased with the increase of cycle number of net stress variations in the increase process of net stress.The stress sensitivity index of permeability hardly changed with the increase of cycle number of net stress variations in the decrease process of net stress.With the increase of cycle number of net stress variation,the stress sensitivity index of permeability in the increase process of net stress approached that in the decrease process of net stress.The lower the reservoir permeability,the greater the irreversible permeability loss rate,the stronger the cyclic stress sensitivity,and the higher the stress sensitivity index of the reservoir,the stronger the reservoir stress sensitivity.The gas zones with permeability lower than 0.3’10-3 mm2 are not suitable as gas storage regions.Stress sensitivity of reservoir permeability has strong impact on gas well injectivity and productivity and mainly in the first few cycles.

The Upper Limit Size of Reservoir-Induced Earthquakes

We showed the relation between the magnitude of induced earthquake and the reservoir storage and dam height based on the global catalog from 1967 to 1989 compiled by Ding Yuanzhang(1989).By multiplying reservoir storage with dam height,we introduced a new parameter named E_E.We found that the cases with specific E_E and magnitude do not exceed a limit.Based on the discussion of its physics,we called E_E the equivalent energy.We considered this limit as the upper limit of magnitude for reservoir-induced earthquakes.The result was proved by the recent cases occurring in China.This size limitation can be used as a helpful consideration for reservoir design.

Analytical study on abnormal change in time-variable gravity at Yichang seismostation before the M5.1 Badong earthquake

An M5.1 earthquake occurred in Badong County, only 66 km from the Three Gorges Dam, on De- cember 16, 2013. The continuous gravity observation data obtained at Yichang seismostation nearest to the epi- center （96 km） were analyzed, and it was found that the continuous gravity observation data obtained in this rainy season did not exhibit a characteristic of seasonal change in gravity identical to that in the past years, and thereafter the M5.1 Badong earthquake occurred. Numerical simulation revealed that the water storage and discharge of the Three Gorges reservoir generated seasonal change in gravity, and the changes in atmospheric pressure and gravity load were not the main sources of the seasonal change of continuous gravity observation data whether in respect of magnitude or phase and did not have obvious breaking change on annual variation before the earthquake. Through analysis of the seasonal change data observed on the same site including cavern temperature, rainfall data and global terrestrial water model （CPC） simulated water load, it was thought that, in the observation room with cavern temperature change of only -0.1 l^C/a at Yichang seismostation, the sea- sonal change of continuous gravity observation result mainly originated from the seasonal change in rainfall. In the case that the changes in rainfall and its water load did not have evident breaking change on annual varia- tion law before the earthquake, if the MS. 1 Badong earthquake was the cause of the breaking change on annual variation law in Yichang this time, then it was believed through analysis of crust expansion ratio that similar a- nomaly should occur at a crust expansion and compression intersection, no more than 100 km away from the epicenter.

Study on Optimal Dispatching Model for Multilake－Reservoir System of Kaidu－Kongque River and Tarim River^（12）

In this paper, the optimal dispatching model for multilake-reservoir system of KaiduKongque River and Tarim river is studied with mathematical programming.The optimal dispatching models belong to large system theory,which considers both wator supply and the effect of science and technology. The computation results shows that the model is feasible.