Characteristics of CO₂‐driven cold‐water geyser, Crystal Geyser in Utah: experimental observation and mechanism analyses

Abstract

Geologic carbon capture and storage (CCS) is an option for reducing CO2 emissions, but leakage to the surface is a risk factor. Natural CO2 reservoirs that erupt from abandoned oil and gas holes leak to the surface as spectacular cold geysers in the Colorado Plateau, United States. A better understanding of the mechanisms of CO2‐driven cold‐water geysers will provide valuable insight about the potential modes of leakage from engineered CCS sites. A notable example of a CO2‐driven cold‐water geyser is Crystal Geyser in central Utah. We investigated the fluid mechanics of this regularly erupting geyser by instrumenting its conduit with sensors and measuring pressure and temperature every 20 sec over a period of 17 days. Analyses of these measurements suggest that the timescale of a single‐eruption cycle is composed of four successive eruption types with two recharge periods ranging from 30 to 40 h. Current eruption patterns exhibit a bimodal distribution, but these patterns evolved during past 80 years. The field observation suggests that the geyser's eruptions are regular and predictable and reflect pressure and temperature changes resulting from Joule–Thomson cooling and endothermic CO2 exsolution. The eruption interval between multiple small‐scale eruptions is a direct indicator of the subsequent large‐scale eruption.

CO2 Leakage-Induced Contamination in Shallow Potable Aquifer and Associated Health Risk Assessment

“…Even if there is no direct evidence showing that the stored CO 2 has leaked to the shallow aquifers from any major CO 2 injection demonstration sites [50,84,85], there exist a few natural analog sites indicating that naturally stored CO 2 has leaked through preexisting fault systems [25,[86][87][88]. These natural sites where CO 2 leakage is primarily driven by geothermal or tectonic activities are typically less populated with lack of concern in potable groundwater resources.…”

On Fluid and Thermal Dynamics in a Heterogeneous CO2 Plume Geothermal Reservoir

“…This phenomenon is caused by the CO 2 accumulation in production; when it exceeds a certain quantity, an eruption event would take place. This phenomenon can likely account for some cold geysers eruptions [24,25]. After the eruption, the content of water in the mixture fluids goes down.…”

Scientific drilling and downhole fluid sampling of a natural CO<sub>2</sub> reservoir, Green River, Utah

“…The stacked sequence of reservoirs, the relatively shallow depth (160-350 m) of the upper CO 2 -bearing reservoir, the Navajo Sandstone and the prior knowledge of the site made it an excellent drilling target Baer and Rigby, 1978;Burnside et al, 2013;Dockrill and Shipton, 2010;Evans et al, 2004;Gouveia and Friedmann, 2006;Gouveia et al, 2005;Han et al, 2013;Kampman et al, 2009Kampman et al, , 2012Shipton et al, 2004Shipton et al, , 2005Wigley et al, 2012Wilkinson et al, 2009). …”