Numerical simulation of porosity and permeability evolution of Mount Simon sandstone under geological carbon sequestration conditions

Abstract

A numerical model was developed with the use of reactive transport code CrunchFlow to estimate porosity, permeability and mineral composition changes of Mount Simon sandstone under typical geological carbon sequestration conditions (P=23.8 MPa and T=85 o C). The model predicted a permeability decrease from 1.60 mD to 1.02 mD for the Mount Simon sandstone sample in a static batch reactor after 180 days of exposure to CO 2-saturated brine, which is consistent with measured permeability results. Model-predicted solution chemistry results were also consistent with laboratory-measured solution chemistry data. SiO 2 (am) was the primary mineral that causes permeability decrease, followed by kaolinite. Both SiO 2 (am) formation and kaolinite formation were attributed to the dissolution of quartz and feldspar. This study shows that the formation of SiO 2 (am) and kaolinite in the pore space of host rock is possible under typical CO 2 sequestration conditions. SiO 2 (am) and kaolinite precipitation at the CO 2 plume extent could reduce the permeability of host rock and improve lateral containment of free-phase CO 2 , contributing to overall security of CO 2 storage.

Qualitative and Quantitative Changes of Carbonate Rocks Exposed to SC CO2 (Basque-Cantabrian Basin, Northern Spain)

“…The secondary minerals that were finally used in the calculations are given in Table 4 and are in agreement with the ones supposed for the mass balance calculation. The kinetics data presented in Table 4 and used in this study are in agreement with other studies performed in similar temperature and pressure conditions [27,43,[50][51][52]. Table 4.…”

Water–rock–CO2 interactions and CO2 storage of Honghe tight oil reservoirs: an experimental and simulation study

“…Similarly, due to the weak water–rock interaction, the decreases in the porosity and permeability of the matrix system are around 0.01% and 0.1%, which are similar with previous work . Zhang and co‐workers developed a numerical model to investigate reactive transport and porosity and permeability changes of sandstone and carbonate rock samples. Their model and experimental results showed a decrease of 7.3% in the permeability of samples, which were merged in the CO 2 ‐saturated brine, in a static batch reactor after 180 days.…”

Numerical investigation of Lower Tuscaloosa Sandstone and Selma Chalk caprock under geological CO2 sequestration conditions: mineral precipitation and permeability evolution

“…Zhang et al . conducted numerical simulations to study CO 2 ‐induced porosity and permeability evolution of sandstone samples taken from another targeted CO 2 storage formation – the Mount Simon Sandstone Formation . Those sandstone samples had relatively low initial porosity (less than 8%) .…”

“…conducted numerical simulations to study CO 2 ‐induced porosity and permeability evolution of sandstone samples taken from another targeted CO 2 storage formation – the Mount Simon Sandstone Formation . Those sandstone samples had relatively low initial porosity (less than 8%) . Those studies revealed that for sandstone samples with high quartz and feldspar content, four mineral dissolution and precipitation reactions (dissolution of feldspar, dissolution of quartz, precipitation of amorphous silica, and precipitation of kaolinite) played very important roles in permeability evolution of the sandstone samples.…”