Rates of mineral dissolution under CO2 storage conditions

Abstract

Evaluating the potential of a sedimentary basin reservoir to securely store CO benefits from a comprehensive understanding of the geochemical reactions that take place once CO is injected into a formation. In particular, models that predict the transport and reaction of CO 2 within a reservoir require a definition of the types of reactions affected by enhanced levels of CO 2 and how the kinetics of these reactions will affect a heterogenous mineralogy and formation waters within a reservoir over time. In this review we evaluate rate models used to describe mineral dissolution kinetics and compare the range in values reported for the kinetic parameters used to describe the reactivity of various minerals relevant to mainly siliciclastic reservoirs. Parameters that have a significant impact on model results include the reactive surface area of a mineral, the apparent activation energies used to extrapolate reaction rates to the temperatures of potential storage reservoirs (c. 50-125°C) and the in-situ pH of formation waters with elevated concentrations of dissolved CO 2 . The variation in reported values for these parameters can lead to predicted rates that span many orders of magnitude for a given mineral. Despite these uncertainties recent success with geochemical models has been made by applying a Monte Carlo approach to optimise the kinetic parameters for minerals where robust thermodynamic and kinetic data do not exist.

A review of geochemical–mechanical impacts in geological carbon storage reservoirs

“…Measuring the reactive surface area is complicated by secondary mineral formation and the presence of natural organic matter, both of which can coat (primary) minerals and create an armoring affect, and by changes in mineral morphology during reaction . Dissolution can also induce surface cracking, which can increase the reactive surface area …”

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

“…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).…”

Multiscale Computational Simulation of Amorphous Silicates’ Structural, Dielectric, and Vibrational Spectroscopic Properties

“…depending on the experimental preparation [56,62], while transmission electron microscopy (TEM) provides direct imaging of parts of the forsterite nanoparticle samples, thus allowing the measuring of their composition, shape, size, and the atomic arrangement [63][64][65]. Synthesized forsterite nanoparticles have potential applications in enhanced weathering, namely sequestering CO 2 by mineral reactions [66][67][68][69][70], and as a biomaterial for implants [71][72][73][74][75]. Moreover, doping the forsterite nanomaterials with Eu 3+ , Tb 3+ , or Er 3+ induces enhancement of their photoluminescence properties [76][77][78], rendering them to have applications in optoelectronic devices.…”