Geocellular Model Development for Simulation of CO2 Storage in the Arches Province and Southern Michigan of the Midwestern United States

Abstract

A geocellular model was developed for areas of the midwestern United States to facilitate numerical simulations on the injection of supercritical carbon dioxide into the Mount Simon Sandstone (Cambrian). These simulations are focused on evaluating the infrastructure necessary to implement large-scale CO2 storage in the region. The study area is located in southern Michigan and the Arches Province, which includes areas of northwestern to southeastern Indiana, north-central Kentucky, and western Ohio, where Paleozoic rocks form broad arch and platform structures. The main rock formation for potential CO2 storage in the study area is the Mount Simon Sandstone (Cambrian), which has been used as a repository for waste disposal for many decades. Geophysical well logs, deep injection operational data from wells, reservoir test results, and geotechnical core test data were collected for the Mount Simon Sandstone and the overlying Eau Claire Formation (Cambrian) confining layer. This study integrates these various types of data into a geocellular model. For example, reservoir permeability was estimated using reservoir test results obtained at injection well sites. In addition, geostatistical analysis was used to interpret spatial trends in parameters. The geocellular model includes parameters for numerical simulations, such as porosity and permeability distribution. Our model development improves the understanding of the nature of the Mount Simon Sandstone in the Arches Province, and will provide input for numerical simulations of large-scale CO2 injection in the region.