A good understanding of CO2–brine–rock
interactions that cause microscale damage to the microstructure of
sandstone, affecting pore fluid transport and reservoir stability,
is important for studying storage efficiency during CO2 storage. In this study, the equipment is first designed to saturate
rock samples using CO2–brine under in situ conditions
and then the homogeneous and heterogeneous sandstone samples are saturated
for 30 days with and without the confining pressure (20 MPa). Through
scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation and analysis, it is
found that the confining pressure reduces the degree of damage in
various scales from micrometer to millimeter, such as reducing the
mineral dissolution, decreasing the induced swelling of the bedding
planes, and causing some pores to collapse. The nuclear magnetic resonance
results show that the change in porosity is mainly caused by the increase
in the number of relatively small-sized (characterized in terms of
fluid relaxation time T
2 < 10–3 s) pores after CO2–brine saturation. In addition,
the alterations of the pore system in homogeneous and heterogeneous
sandstones are different, such as a larger increase in the porosity
of homogeneous sandstone (by 5.29%). In heterogeneous sandstone, the
effect of mineral dissolution induced by chemical reactions on damaging
the microstructure is more obvious than mineral swelling. In addition,
it is found that the CO2–brine saturation decreases
the fractal dimension of the sandstone by nearly 2%, increasing the
pore connectivity. This study is helpful for understanding the evolution
of the sandstone microstructure under geological conditions during
the long-term CO2 storage process.