Numerical Study Of Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation As A Leakage Mitigation Solution For CO2 Storage

In this abstract, we develop simulation models to study and show the potential for field-scale application of microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) as a leakage mitigate solution in CO2 sequestration. Based on laboratory experiments, field-scale cases, and numerical studies from the literature, two injection strategies for efficient MICP are developed: (I) injection of pre-stimulated microorganisms and urea into the subsurface, resulting in calcite precipitation around the body of the microbes; and (II) the classic approach of injecting microorganisms together with chemicals to stimulate growth of biofilm, and subsequent calcite precipitation from the biofilm. To enable field-scale simulations of (I) and (II) at low computational cost, we simplify the processes that have little contribution to the flow, while keeping input parameters and assumptions as realistic as possible. The injection strategies were simulated on field-scale, synthetic 2D radial models. The simulation results showed that both injection strategies produce significant porosity/permeability decrease at targeted locations away from the injection well. Moreover, it was seen that injection strategy (II) produced significantly more porosity/permeability decrease compared to (I).