Comparative Evaluation of Brine Leakage Models in Legacy Wells: Analytical, Transient, and Mechanistic Approaches for CO2 Storage Integrity
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Geologic carbon storage (GCS) is expanding rapidly as a cornerstone decarbonization option, but its climate value depends on maintaining long-term containment of CO2 and displaced formation brine. Legacy wells—many drilled and abandoned before modern barrier standards—remain one of the most credible and controllable pathways for unintended upward migration. To support transparent, fit-for-purpose risk screening, this study benchmarks three leakage-modeling philosophies across a common six-layer scenario: (i) a reservoir-scale analytical solution for layered aquifers, (ii) a semi-analytical pressure-transient model that captures rock–fluid compressibility and breakthrough time, and (iii) a new mechanistic wellbore-scale model that explicitly represents dominant annular failure pathways (micro-annuli, cement fractures, casing breaches, and cement–formation interface flow) with pathway-specific hydraulic losses. Results show that model choice and physics assumptions drive order-of-magnitude differences in predicted brine rates: after 1000 days, the analytical model predicts ~1.7 bbls/day, the pressure-transient model exceeds 8 bbls/day, whereas the mechanistic model yields damage-dependent outcomes (~0.2–0.4 bbls/day for moderate–severe cement damage and up to ~3.5 bbls/day for open-channel conditions). These findings demonstrate that neglecting wellbore hydraulic resistance can systematically overstate leakage risk, while mechanistic pathway representation enables more realistic, condition-dependent screening. Future work will focus on model calibration to field/monitoring data, probabilistic parameterization of defect geometries, and extension to multiphase/reactive leakage to support operational decision-making and regulatory assurance.
Source: Energies
DOI: 10.3390/en19051154
Institution: The University of Texas at Austin
Language: English
Subfield: Environmental Engineering
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,137
OpenAlex ID: W7131622643