A Data-Enabled Hydro-Mechanical-Chemical Modeling Framework for Simulation of CO2 Storage in Carbonate Saline Reservoirs of Kuwait

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Greenhouse-gases (GHG) are a threat to our ecosystem with CO2 accounting for 82% of GHG in the atmosphere. Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) has been recognized as a promising strategy to reduce the amount of GHG emissions. Depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs are considered as one of the most effective sinks for underground storage of CO2. Kuwait is committed to acknowledge the Circular-Carbon-Economy concept and play a role in the evolving energy transition following the steps of its neighboring GCC countries. Effective evaluation and verification of geologic carbon storage in vuggy carbonate systems, e.g., depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs/ saline aquifers, requires in-depth understanding of the coupled multi-physics processes that govern CO2 migration across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. The main objective of this proposal is to develop a data-enabled modeling framework for investigating the coupled hydro-mechanical-chemical simulation of vuggy carbonate reservoirs for the application of CO2-storage in saline water-bearing carbonate formations. The proposed model includes a built-in data-enabled module, which can use well-log, pressure, and production data from field dataset and can obtain the effective matrix-vug transport parameters of the reservoir. The main technical outcome of this proposal will be to improve our understanding of the complex phenomena of flow, deformation, and reactive transport in carbonate reservoirs, elaborate the analysis of well test data in carbonate formations, and predict the CO2-water interaction in vuggy formations with a lesser degree of uncertainty. Energy companies planning to run any kind of CCUS project in carbonate reservoirs will be the first beneficiaries of this tool, mainly because this work is the first tool in its kind to address flow, geomechanics, a