Publications by Victor Vilarrasa Riano

Hydro-mechanical modeling of tunnel excavation in anisotropic shale with coupled damage-plasticity and micro-dilatant regularization

Lyesse Laloui, Francesco Parisio, Victor Vilarrasa Riano

The disposal of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel in deep geological media will require excavating a large number of galleries in low-permeable rocks, altering initial rock integrity at the repository site. The FE-tunnel excavated in Opalinus Clay at t ...

2018

A methodology to detect and locate low-permeability faults to reduce the risk of inducing seismicity of fluid injection operations in deep saline formations

Lyesse Laloui, Victor Vilarrasa Riano

Fluid injection in the subsurface has significantly increased over the last decades. Fluid injection causes pressure buildup, which reduces effective stresses and thus, shear failure conditions may eventually occur, inducing microseismic and seismic events ...

Elsevier Sci Ltd2017

Hydromechanical Aspects of CO2 Breakthrough into Clay-rich Caprock

Lyesse Laloui, Roman Makhnenko, Victor Vilarrasa Riano, Danila Mylnikov

Caprock formations are intended to prevent upwards carbon dioxide (CO2) migration to the surface during CO2 geological storage. Caprock interaction with CO2, as well as its potential consequences, requires to be predicted, and thus, need to be studied expe ...

Elsevier2017

Strength evolution of geomaterials in the octahedral plane under non-isothermal and unsaturated conditions

Lyesse Laloui, Francesco Parisio, Victor Vilarrasa Riano

Current geomechanical applications imply non-isothermal processes of unsaturated geomaterials, in most cases following stress paths different than the classical triaxial compression often used in laboratory testing. Though the effects of temperature, sucti ...

American Society of Civil Engineers2017

Identification of above-zone pressure perturbations caused by leakage from those induced by deformation

Victor Vilarrasa Riano

Pressure changes in the above zone, i.e., the overlying aquifer of an injection zone separated by a sealing caprock, are usually attributed to leakage through wells. However, pressure changes can be induced geomechanically due to rock deformation without a ...

Springer2016

Two-phase flow effects on the CO2 injection pressure evolution and implications for the caprock geomechanical stability

Victor Vilarrasa Riano

Geologic carbon storage is considered to be one of the main solutions to significantly reduce CO2 emissions to the atmosphere to mitigate climate change. CO2 injection in deep geological formations entails a two-phase flow, being CO2 the non-wetting phase. ...

EDP Sciences2016

The role of the stress regime on microseismicity induced by overpressure and cooling in geologic carbon storage

Victor Vilarrasa Riano

Fluid injection in deep geological formations usually induces microseismicity. In particular, industrial-scale injection of CO2 may induce a large number of microseismic events. Since CO2 is likely to reach the storage formation at a lower temperature than ...

Wiley-Blackwell2016

Impact of thermally induced stresses on fracture stability during geological storage of CO2

Lyesse Laloui, Victor Vilarrasa Riano

Geomechanical stability issues may arise due to induced thermal stresses because CO2 will generally reach the storage formation at a temperature lower than that of the reservoir. Cold injection will form a cold region around the injection well, which will ...

Elsevier2016

Fault reactivation during CO2 sequestration: Effects of well orientation on seismicity and leakage

Victor Vilarrasa Riano

Injection or withdrawal of fluid at depth may trigger felt seismicity. Such human-induced seismicity is a key environmental concern related to the exploitation of natural underground resources. Thus, understanding how to avoid triggering felt earthquakes p ...

Wiley Periodicals, Inc2015

Potential fracture propagation into the caprock induced by cold CO2 injection in normal faulting stress regimes

Lyesse Laloui, Victor Vilarrasa Riano

Thermal effects are an important component in the analysis of geologic carbon storage because the injected CO2 reaches the storage formation at a lower temperature than that of the reservoir rock. The main fear is related to the possibility that the shear ...

2015

Reply to Zoback and Gorelick: Geologic carbon storage remains a safe strategy to significantly reduce CO2 emissions

Victor Vilarrasa Riano

National Academy of Sciences2015

Geologic carbon storage is unlikely to trigger large earthquakes and reactivate faults through which CO2 could leak

Victor Vilarrasa Riano

Zoback and Gorelick [(2012) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109(26): 10164-10168] have claimed that geologic carbon storage in deep saline formations is very likely to trigger large induced seismicity, which may damage the caprock and ruin the objective of keeping ...

National Academy of Sciences2015

Thermal and capillary effects on the caprock mechanical stability at In Salah, Algeria

Victor Vilarrasa Riano

Thermo-mechanical effects are important in geologic carbon storage because CO2 will generally reach the storage formation colder than the rock, inducing thermal stresses. Capillary functions, i.e., retention and relative permeability curves, control the CO ...

Wiley Periodicals, Inc2015