Storing solar energy in the subsurface as heat is a promising way for energy storage and conversion, which has a great potential to address the temporal and spatial mismatch between energy demand and supply. Thermal energy storage in deep aquifers can convert intermittent solar energy into stable high temperature geothermal energy. In this study, a new solar energy storage and conversion system is proposed where solar energy is firstly converted into heat using parabolic troughs and then stored in deep aquifers by high temperature hot water circulation. The geostatistical modelling and hydro-thermo coupling simulations are adopted to investigate the feasibility and efficiency of solar energy storage in deep aquifers. Specifically, how rock permeability heterogeneity (in terms of autocorrelation length and global permeability heterogeneity) impacts the temporal and spatial evolution of temperature distribution and storage efficiency is examined. The simulation results indicate that increased horizontal autocorrelation length and global heterogeneity may accelerate thermal breakthrough, deteriorating storage efficiency. High permeability heterogeneity may also lead to high injection pressure. Deep aquifers with small horizontal autocorrelation lengths and low global heterogeneity tend to have higher storage efficiency. These findings may improve our understanding of solar energy storage mechanism in deep aquifers and guide field applications.

Residual oil zones (ROZs) have large potential for CO₂ enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and geologic storage. During CO₂ injection, the migration of CO₂ in ROZs controls the performance of both EOR and storage. However, it has not been clearly visualized and understood that how geological heterogeneity factors control the transport of CO₂ in ROZs. In this study, the oil recovery performance and geologic storage potential during continuous CO₂ injection in a representative ROZ are studied based on geostatistical modelling and high-fidelity three-phase flow simulation. We examined the influence of autocorrelation length of permeability, global heterogeneity (Dykstra–Parsons coefficient), and permeability anisotropy on cumulative oil recovery and CO₂ retention fraction. Simulation results indicate that, as the permeability autocorrelation length increases, the cumulative oil recovery and CO₂ storage efficiency decrease. This results from the accelerated migration of CO₂ along high permeability zones (i.e., gas channeling). The increase in global heterogeneity and permeability anisotropies can lead to low oil recovery and poor CO₂ sequestration performance, depending on the degree of CO₂ channeling. The net utilization ratio of CO₂ (CO₂ retained/oil produced) unfavorably increases with both autocorrelation length and Dykstra–Parsons coefficient, but decreases with the increase ink_v/k_h. Such a decrease is attributed to enlarged swept volume induced by gravity override. The study provides important implications for field-scale CO₂ EOR and storage applications in ROZs.