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Abstract
Improving energy accesswhile mitigating environmental impacts requiresthe development of subsurface systems at an unprecedented scale. These systems, however, are complex, with fractures and faultsas key structural discontinuities.These structures control the movement of fluids, and are responsible for hazards including groundwater pollution, earthquakes,or geomechanical deformation. The scientific challenge lies in quantifyingand reducinguncertaintyin the behaviorof these systems—necessary to safely scale up operations, butdifficult due to limited access, heterogeneity, and complex physics.In this talk, I will present two computational frameworks to tackle this challenge when assessing(1) fault leakage during CO2sequestration, and (2) induced seismicity during reservoir operations. In the first part, I will describe a new methodology to model multiphase flow properties of fault zones, including anisotropy and uncertainty, andits applicationto field-scale simulation models. In the second part, I will present a coupled model of multiphase flow and geomechanics of the Wilmington Field, the largest in the Los Angeles Basin.Thismodelprovides a unique opportunity to assess the long-term impacts of reservoir operations on seismic hazard, and to develop guidelines for hydrogen storage in tectonically-active settings.
Bio
Lluís Saló-Salgado is a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and a postdoctoral associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA. He obtained his PhD from MIT Civil and Environmental Engineering in 2024, advised by Ruben Juanes, and holdsa BS in Geology from University of Barcelona and a MS in Geotechnical Engineering from UPC-BarcelonaTech. His PhD thesis focused on numerical modeling of geologic CO2storage in faulted settings. As a postdoc, he leads the coupled flow-geomechanics modeling in an NSF-funded project on the impact of a century of reservoir operations on earthquake occurrence in the Los Angeles Basin. His research focuses on elucidating the interplay between geologic faults, fluids, and seismicity to enablesustainable development of engineered geosystems for the energy transition.
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