RSI Research Seminar

Join us every other Monday at noon for lunch and a 30-minute research talk, presented by Resnick Sustainability Institute Graduate Fellows and Caltech researchers funded by the Resnick Sustainability Institute. To see the full schedule of speakers, visit the RSI Research Seminar web page. Seminars are currently in-person only. For more information, please reach out to [email protected]

Modeling subsurface operations for a safe and sustainable energy matrix

Subsurface fluid injection and extraction are key to a safer and more sustainable energy matrix, supporting resource extraction, CO2 sequestration, hydrogen storage, and geothermal energy. However, predicting the subsurface response—including fluid flow, rock deformation, and potential induced seismicity—is challenging. We developed Flow2Quake, a modular workflow using minimal physics to model these coupled processes. The model's few parameters are optimized by matching real operation-related observations like well pressure, surface deformation, and seismicity.

This talk presents case studies using Flow2Quake to analyze induced seismicity from natural gas extraction, CO2 injection, and geothermal activities. We demonstrate the tool's ability to forecast fluid migration, rock deformation modes, and the seismic potential arising from subsurface operations at reduced computational costs.

Our studies show Flow2Quake can (1) improve our understanding of earthquake physics, (2) provide a tool for forecasting large-scale operations and project interactions with quantified uncertainty, and importantly, (3) help optimize operations in near real-time. The workflow's philosophy prioritizes evaluating the simplest physics sufficient to explain operational data before adding complexity.