Numerical Investigation of the Influence of Hydrodynamic Dispersion on Solutal Natural Convection

We investigate numerically the effect of hydrodynamic dispersion on convective dissolution of carbon dioxide in saline aquifers. Solutions of the transport equations were used to describe the dissolution process in the aquifer and provide a systematic parametric analysis of the influence of dispersion on two important measures of convective dissolution, the wavenumber, and dissolution flux. The results suggest that dispersion decreases the dissolution rate and reduces the finger wavenumber. Based on the simulated results, new empirical scaling laws that predict the dissolution rate and wavenumber were developed. The application of the new laws to two storage sites shows that the currently available predictions overestimate the dissolution rates by ∼30%. We have identified some discrepancies between published scaling laws that were obtained for the dissolution rate. While most numerical studies identify a linear scaling, experimental investigations often suggest a sublinear behavior. Our findings resolve the controversy by suggesting that dispersion, which was not considered in these past numerical studies, is the reason for the apparent sublinear scaling.