Merging Single-well and Inter-well Tracer Tests into One Forced-gradient Dipole Test, at the Heletz Site within the MUSTANG Project

Abstract The Heletz site in Israel was chosen for conducting a CO 2 transport experiment within the MUSTANG project, which aim is to demonstrate and validate leading-edge techniques for CCS site characterization, process monitoring and risk assessment. The major CO 2 injection experiment at Heletz was supposed to be preceded and accompanied by a sequence of single-well (SW) ‘push-then-pull’ and inter-well (IW) tracer tests, aimed at characterizing transport properties of the storage formation. – Instead of the rather luxurious, multiple-SW and multiple-IW test sequence described in our previous work, we now propose a drastically economized tracer test concept, which lets the fluid sampling stages of SW and IW tests merge into a single production stage, and relies on a forced-gradient dipole flow field at any time of the overall test. Besides cost reduction, this economized design also improves on operational aspects, as well as on issues of parameter ambiguity and of scale disparity between SW and IW flow fields.