Sealing Shales versus Brittle Shales: A Sharp Threshold in the Material Properties and Energy Technology Uses of Fine-Grained Sedimentary Rocks

Bourg, Ian C.

doi:10.1021/acs.estlett.5b00233

Sealing Shales versus Brittle Shales: A Sharp Threshold in the Material Properties and Energy Technology Uses of Fine-Grained Sedimentary Rocks

Journal Article · Wed Sep 09 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Environmental Science & Technology Letters (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.5b00233· OSTI ID:1370645

Bourg, Ian C. ^[1]

Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)

Fine-grained sedimentary rocks (shale and mudstone) play important roles in global CO₂ abatement efforts through their uses in carbon capture and storage (CCS), radioactive waste storage, and shale gas extraction. These different technologies, however, rely on seemingly conflicting premises regarding the sealing properties of shale and mudstone, suggesting that those rocks that lend themselves to hydrocarbon extraction may not be optimal seals for CCS or radioactive waste storage, and vice versa. In this paper, a compilation of experimental data on the properties of well-characterized shale and mudstone formations is used to demonstrate that clay mineral mass fraction, X_clay, is a very important variable the controls key material properties of these formations and that a remarkably sharp threshold at X_clay ~ 1/3 separates fine-grained rocks with very different properties. Finally, this threshold coincides with the predictions of a simple conceptual model of the microstructure of sedimentary rocks and is reflected in the uses of shale and mudstone formations for CCS, radioactive waste storage, and shale gas extraction.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center for Nanoscale Control of Geologic CO2 (NCGC)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1370645

Journal Information:: Environmental Science & Technology Letters (Online), Journal Name: Environmental Science & Technology Letters (Online) Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 2; ISSN 2328-8930

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Deformation Experiments on Bowland and Posidonia Shale—Part I: Strength and Young’s Modulus at Ambient and In Situ pc–T Conditions Herrmann, J.; Rybacki, E.; Sone, H. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, Vol. 51, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-018-1572-4	journal	August 2018
Collapse of Reacted Fracture Surface Decreases Permeability and Frictional Strength Spokas, K.; Fang, Y.; Fitts, J. P. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 124, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019jb017805	journal	December 2019
A Darcy‐Brinkman‐Biot Approach to Modeling the Hydrology and Mechanics of Porous Media Containing Macropores and Deformable Microporous Regions Carrillo, Francisco J.; Bourg, Ian C. Water Resources Research, Vol. 55, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019wr024712	journal	October 2019
Effects of sulfate on biotite interfacial reactions under high temperature and high CO ₂ pressure Zhang, Lijie; Zhu, Yaguang; Wu, Xuanhao Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Vol. 21, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1039/c8cp07368f	journal	January 2019

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