Numerical sensitivity analysis of density driven CO₂ convection with respect to different modeling and boundary conditions

We present a numerical analysis of the sensitivity of the density driven CO₂ convection results in a vertical Hele-Shaw cell with respect to different modeling assumptions. The role of density driven convection phenomenon in CO₂ geological storage capacity and safety has already been pointed out in several studies. We showed that in order to accurately simulate the phenomenon occurring in lab experiments, multi-phase transfer has to be considered and variations in the permeability field should also be taken into account. Taylor dispersion has been found to have no significant effect on the results. Experimental results of the convection fingering process development and of quantitative determination of the total mass of dissolved CO₂ were used to validate the numerical simulation results. Understanding how accurate numerical models can simulate lab experiments is an important step in confirming their reliability to predict underground CO₂ storage capacity.