Micro-Continuum Approaches for Modeling Pore-Scale Geochemical Processes

Steefel, Carl I.; Beckingham, Lauren E.; Landrot, Gautier

doi:10.2138/rmg.2015.80.07

Cited by 97 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 96 publications

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“…To ensure storage security, modeling of these subsurface processes is important (Sifuentes et al, 2009). However, field-scale models require a pore-scale understanding of the reaction processes to account for complexities inherent in carbonate reservoirs (Li et al, 2006(Li et al, , 2008Steefel, Appelo, et al, 2015;Steefel, Beckingham & Landrot 2015;Steefel & Lasaga, 1994;Steefel & Maher, 2009). These reactive processes are dependent on pore structure (physical heterogeneity) and rock mineralogy (chemical heterogeneity).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, in multimineral carbonates, a wide range of reaction rates is possible which means that they can be harder to predict (Black et al, 2015). There have been benchmark studies that attempt to model multicomponent reactive transport; most report the need for experimental validation and all agree on anchoring the fundamental chemical and physical processes from pore-scale observations (Beisman et al, 2015;Li et al, 2006;Marty et al, 2015;Molins et al, 2012;Steefel, Appelo, et al, 2015;Steefel, Beckingham, & Landrot, 2015;Steefel & Lasaga, 1994).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pore‐Scale Dissolution by CO₂ Saturated Brine in a Multimineral Carbonate at Reservoir Conditions: Impact of Physical and Chemical Heterogeneity

Al‐Khulaifi

Lin

Blunt

et al. 2019

Water Resources Research

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We study the impact of physical and chemical heterogeneity on reaction rates in multimineral porous media. We selected two pairs of carbonate samples of different physical heterogeneity in accordance with their initial computed velocity distributions and then injected CO2 saturated brine at reservoir conditions at two flow rates. We periodically imaged the samples using X‐ray microtomography. The mineralogical composition was similar (a ratio of dolomite to calcite of 8:1), but the intrinsic reaction rates and mineral spatial distribution were profoundly different. Visualizations of velocity fields and reacted mineral distributions revealed that a dominant flow channel formed in all cases. The more physically homogeneous samples had a narrower velocity distribution and more preexisting fast channels, which promoted dominant channel formation in their proximity. In contrast, the heterogeneous samples exhibit a broader distribution of velocities and fewer fast channels, which accentuated nonuniform calcite distribution and favored calcite dissolution away from the initially fast pathways. We quantify the impact of physical and chemical heterogeneity by computing the proximity of reacted minerals to the fast flow pathways. The average reaction rates were an order of magnitude lower than the intrinsic ones due to mass transfer limitations. The effective reaction rate of calcite decreased by an order of magnitude, in both fast channels and slow regions. After channel formation calcite was shielded by dolomite whose effective rate in slow regions could even increase. Overall, the preferential channeling effect, as opposed to uniform dissolution, was promoted by a higher degree of physical and/or chemical heterogeneity.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pore‐Scale Dissolution by CO₂ Saturated Brine in a Multimineral Carbonate at Reservoir Conditions: Impact of Physical and Chemical Heterogeneity

Al‐Khulaifi

Lin

Blunt

et al. 2019

Water Resources Research

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“…Micro-continuum equations are parameterized using bulk parameters such as porosity and reactive surface area. For more details, the reader is kindly referred to the chapter of this volume devoted to the micro-continuum approach (Steefel et al 2015, this volume).…”

Section: Micro-continuum and Multiscale Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reactive Interfaces in Direct Numerical Simulation of Pore-Scale Processes

Molins

2015

Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry

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“…[61][62][63] The advancement of X-ray imaging has allowed researchers to incorporate real microstructures of natural samples into numerical simulations. 64,65 However, such an operation usually requires binarisation (segmentation) of the image data. This is because of the limited applicability of governing equations derived from first principles (e.g., Navier-Stokes equations cannot be applied directly to a mixture of solid and fluids).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dissolved CO₂Increases Breakthrough Porosity in Natural Porous Materials

Yang

Bruns

Stipp

et al. 2017

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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When reactive fluids flow through a dissolving porous medium, conductive channels form, leading to fluid breakthrough. This phenomenon is caused by the reactive infiltration instability and is important in geologic carbon storage where the dissolution of CO in flowing water increases fluid acidity. Using numerical simulations with high resolution digital models of North Sea chalk, we show that the breakthrough porosity is an important indicator of dissolution pattern. Dissolution patterns reflect the balance between the demand and supply of cumulative surface. The demand is determined by the reactive fluid composition while the supply relies on the flow field and the rock's microstructure. We tested three model scenarios and found that aqueous CO dissolves porous media homogeneously, leading to large breakthrough porosity. In contrast, solutions without CO develop elongated convective channels known as wormholes, with low breakthrough porosity. These different patterns are explained by the different apparent solubility of calcite in free drift systems. Our results indicate that CO increases the reactive subvolume of porous media and reduces the amount of solid residual before reactive fluid can be fully channelized. Consequently, dissolved CO may enhance contaminant mobilization near injection wellbores, undermine the mechanical sustainability of formation rocks and increase the likelihood of buoyance driven leakage through carbonate rich caprocks.

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Micro-Continuum Approaches for Modeling Pore-Scale Geochemical Processes

Cited by 97 publications

References 96 publications

Pore‐Scale Dissolution by CO₂ Saturated Brine in a Multimineral Carbonate at Reservoir Conditions: Impact of Physical and Chemical Heterogeneity

Pore‐Scale Dissolution by CO₂ Saturated Brine in a Multimineral Carbonate at Reservoir Conditions: Impact of Physical and Chemical Heterogeneity

Reactive Interfaces in Direct Numerical Simulation of Pore-Scale Processes

Dissolved CO₂Increases Breakthrough Porosity in Natural Porous Materials

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Micro-Continuum Approaches for Modeling Pore-Scale Geochemical Processes

Cited by 97 publications

References 96 publications

Pore‐Scale Dissolution by CO2 Saturated Brine in a Multimineral Carbonate at Reservoir Conditions: Impact of Physical and Chemical Heterogeneity

Pore‐Scale Dissolution by CO2 Saturated Brine in a Multimineral Carbonate at Reservoir Conditions: Impact of Physical and Chemical Heterogeneity

Reactive Interfaces in Direct Numerical Simulation of Pore-Scale Processes

Dissolved CO2Increases Breakthrough Porosity in Natural Porous Materials

Contact Info

Product

Resources

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Pore‐Scale Dissolution by CO₂ Saturated Brine in a Multimineral Carbonate at Reservoir Conditions: Impact of Physical and Chemical Heterogeneity

Pore‐Scale Dissolution by CO₂ Saturated Brine in a Multimineral Carbonate at Reservoir Conditions: Impact of Physical and Chemical Heterogeneity

Dissolved CO₂Increases Breakthrough Porosity in Natural Porous Materials