HPC simulation software for the gigatonne storage challenge

In order for carbon capture and storage (CCS) to be able to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and meet global emission targets by the middle of this century, we must scale up storage capacity from the current tens of millions of tonnes to billions of tonnes (gigatons).

Continental margins such as the Norwegian continental shelf are particularly well suited for CO₂ storage. Significant investments and measures have been made in Norway, Australia, the USA and elsewhere to stimulate large-scale CCS and start a new industry in CO₂ transport and storage. Investments and measures have so far largely focused on demonstration projects (EU: “flagship projects”). Future CCS business models must be based on building up gigatonn (Gt) storage capacity in some selected areas that can be offered for decarbonisation of energy-intensive industrial and power sectors.

Development of Gt storage capacity requires new methods and tools, e.g. in relation to evaluation of pressure response during upscaling. A major bottleneck in today’s workflow is the dynamic simulation of CO₂ injection on a large (pool) scale with sufficient resolution and efficiency. Today’s reservoir simulators fail to do this and a reliable Gt reservoir simulator will be needed to scale up CO₂ storage.

The HPC-G project is based on a close collaboration between NORCE, SINTEF and Equinor with a focus on the development of the reservoir simulator Open Porous Media (OPM) as a dedicated simulator for CO₂ storage. Based on existing features in OPM Flow, the project will deliver a High Power Computing (HPC) -compatible CO₂ storage simulator with advanced functionality to be able to simulate storage on the Gt scale. Code development will be based on concepts developed in collaboration between industry, research and administration, with participants such as the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (Norway), CarbonNet (Australia), UT Austin Bureau of Economic Geology (USA), TNO (Netherlands). The project will have a reference group that will assist in discussing challenges, priorities and opportunities for the development of new simulation technology to support large-scale CO₂ storage.

HPC-G will have two main deliveries: (1) demonstration of HPC performance on supercomputer infrastructure, including cloud computing (Q2-2021), (2) demonstration of dedicated CO₂ functionality on real-time case studies (Q4-2021). The simulation tool will be made openly available to the CCS community. All necessary user documentation, including tutorials and demonstration videos, will be provided by the project.

HPC-G will offer the very first simulation technology that meets the requirements for reservoir scale simulation combined with necessary functions for pressure control simultaneously in several places in a sediment pool. The project will enable operators to assess Gt CO₂ storage more efficiently and plan for large-scale field development. HPC simulations with OPM Flow will support technical-economic analyzes and provide better CAPEX / OPEX estimates.