Deep Learning Framework for History Matching CO2 Storage with 4D Seismic and Monitoring Well Data
This work addresses uncertainty reduction in geological carbon storage operations for environmental and engineering applications, representing an incremental improvement in data integration methods.
The authors tackled the challenge of calibrating uncertain formation properties for geological carbon storage by introducing a history matching strategy that uses deep learning surrogate models for monitoring well and 4D seismic data, resulting in substantial uncertainty reduction in key parameters and accurate predictions of CO2 plume dynamics.
Geological carbon storage entails the injection of megatonnes of supercritical CO2 into subsurface formations. The properties of these formations are usually highly uncertain, which makes design and optimization of large-scale storage operations challenging. In this paper we introduce a history matching strategy that enables the calibration of formation properties based on early-time observations. Early-time assessments are essential to assure the operation is performing as planned. Our framework involves two fit-for-purpose deep learning surrogate models that provide predictions for in-situ monitoring well data and interpreted time-lapse (4D) seismic saturation data. These two types of data are at very different scales of resolution, so it is appropriate to construct separate, specialized deep learning networks for their prediction. This approach results in a workflow that is more straightforward to design and more efficient to train than a single surrogate that provides global high-fidelity predictions. The deep learning models are integrated into a hierarchical Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) history matching procedure. History matching is performed on a synthetic case with and without 4D seismic data, which allows us to quantify the impact of 4D seismic on uncertainty reduction. The use of both data types is shown to provide substantial uncertainty reduction in key geomodel parameters and to enable accurate predictions of CO2 plume dynamics. The overall history matching framework developed in this study represents an efficient way to integrate multiple data types and to assess the impact of each on uncertainty reduction and performance predictions.