Characterization of two-phase flow in porous media and applications to the monitoring of geological carbon sequestration

The issue of global warming and the proposed geological carbon sequestration have increased the interests on studying supercritical CO2 (scCO2) and brine/water flow in porous medium. Like other two-phase flow systems in porous media, the capillary pressure (Pc), relative permeability (Kr) and electrical properties (e.g., bulk electrical conductivity (σb), bulk dielectric constant (εb) ) of the fluid-fluid-porous media systems can be used to characterize the system as they are all functions of wetting-phase saturation (S). But the non-uniqueness of these functions pose challenges to efficient and reliable monitoring of the subsurface processes. This work explores the application of geoelectrical measuremnet techniques in the characterization of carbonate and silicate porous media in the presence of scCO2 and brine/water. Factors contributing to their non-uniqueness were investigated.