Modelling & Simulation of Fluid Flow Behaviour During Carbondioxide Sequestration in Coal Structure Using Comsol Multiphysics

Abstract

In the present world, Global Warming has been one of the biggest problems regarding environmental aspect and CO2 is held responsible for that. It is an inevitable necessity to mitigate the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. CO2 sequestration is one of the best methods to reduce its concentration by trapping it beneath the earth in different geological conditions. The unmined coal seams and thin bands of coal provide a potential storage for CO2 with suitable geological environment. These days it has become necessary to study the relationship between coal structure and flow of fluids inside. In this project, an effort has been made to study the behaviour of fluids i.e. carbon dioxide and methane inside of coal and the analysis has been carried out to study their velocity and pressure variations using COMSOL Multiphysics. Coal contains both cleat and porous structure. Cleats are the natural fractures in coal and pores are the important factors for migration of fluid inside coal. Two separate models are developed to understand the fluid flow behaviour in both cleat and porous structure of coal. A study on 3D model has also been carried out by developing a uniform coal block to analyze pressure and velocity variations inside it.