Rapid determination of supercritical CO2 and brine relative permeability using an unsteady-state flow method

In this study, relative permeability of supercritical CO2 (scCO2) and brine was determined in reactive and non-reactive rock cores using a combination of unsteady-state methodology and computed tomography. Experiments were conducted using a medical grade CT scanner to determine saturation using a custom Python script. The saturation and differential pressure across the core were then used to derive four empirical constants to calculate relative permeability. This methodology increases temporal efficiency while reducing experimental complexity. Additionally, we show that the method can be used to determine scCO2 relative permeability in a wide range of lithologies and flow rates, and with the ability to account for matrix dissolution during scCO2 flooding.