This
study aims to provide accurate simultaneous predictions of
crucial properties affecting CO2 storage in saline aquifers
with deep microstructural insights using comprehensive molecular dynamics
(MD) simulations under actual operating conditions ranges. We investigated
the effects of pressure, temperature, and salinity on mutual solubility,
interfacial tension (IFT), density, and viscosity of a CO2-brine system over the temperature range of 323.15–393.15
K, pressures up to 30 MPa, and salinity range of 0.98–2.97
mol/kg. Brine was resembled by employing different brine systems like
actual reservoirs, including mixed electrolyte solutions containing
monovalent and divalent ions. MD model configurations and force fields
were validated by experimental data of a CO2-water/NaCl
aqueous solution. The maximum average absolute deviations for the
solubility, density, and IFT were 5.50, 6.95, and 7.136%, respectively.
The simulation results indicated that mutual solubilities of CO2 and water in the CO2-NaCl + KCl solution system
are higher than those of CO2-NaCl + CaCl2, while
for IFT, the opposite trend is observed. Unlike pressure, salt concentration
variations result in considerable density and viscosity changes for
all systems. The maximum density and viscosity values are obtained
for the brine-containing divalent cations. This study gives insight
into the storage process and relates the microstructure effects to
solubility, IFT, and viscosity of CO2-brine systems using
a single MD model.
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