Impact of relative permeability hysteresis on geological CO 2 storage

Relative permeabilities are the key descriptors in classical formulations of multiphase flow in porous media. Experimental evidence and an analysis of pore‐scale physics demonstrate conclusively that relative permeabilities are not single functions of fluid saturations and that they display strong hysteresis effects. In this paper, we evaluate the relevance of relative permeability hysteresis when modeling geological CO 2 sequestration processes. Here we concentrate on CO 2 injection in saline aquifers. In this setting the CO 2 is the nonwetting phase, and capillary trapping of the CO 2 is an essential mechanism after the injection phase during the lateral and upward migration of the CO 2 plume. We demonstrate…