Estimation of Formation Thermal Properties Distribution from Temperature in CO2 Storage Wells

Conventionally, the accuracy of predicting the CO2 geological storage capacity was limited by the assumption that the formation thermal properties along the depth of wellbore were constant. In the present paper, firstly, a numerical model aimed at investigating the effect of thermal properties on the heat transfer amount was presented and then validated by experimental data. It was found that two thermal properties, thermal conductivity and volumetric specific heat capacity, affected CO2 temperature, and the effect of thermal conductivity was greater than volumetric specific heat capacity. Secondly, a novel estimation method was presented, with which the distribution of formation thermal properties along wellbore can be acquired with the use of well logging temperature data in CO2 storage wells. The average relative error of the thermal conductivity and the volumetric specific heat capacity was less than 5 % and 10 %, respectively. With this method, the accuracy of numerical study on CO2 geological storage capacity could be significantly improved.