Permeability and Mineral Composition Evolution of Primary Seal and Reservoir Rocks in Geologic Carbon Storage Conditions

Journal Article · Mon Oct 02 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Environmental Engineering Science (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1089/ees.2017.0197· OSTI ID:1476993

Soong, Yee ^[1]; Crandall, Dustin ^[1]; Howard, Bret H. ^[1]; Haljasmaa, Igor ^[1]; Dalton, Laura E. ^[1]; Zhang, Liwei ^[1]; Lin, Ronghong ^[1]; Dilmore, Robert M. ^[1]; Zhang, Wu ^[1]; Shi, Fan ^[1]; Mclendon, Thomas R. ^[1]

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1. National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, (United States)

It has been reported that deep saline aquifers represent the largest geologic CO₂ storage resource. To better predict containment effectiveness and long-term reservoir behavior of these formations, it is important to understand the potential geochemically induced changes to the porosity and permeability of both the primary sealing formation and CO₂ storage formation rocks. To investigate these potential changes, an experimental study to probe the geochemical interactions of CO₂/brine/rock system under geologic CO₂ storage conditions was conducted in a static reaction system. Marine shale (primary sealing formation) and Lower Tuscaloosa sandstone (CO₂ storage formation) core samples taken from the Plant Daniel CO₂ storage test site (Jackson County, Mississippi) were exposed to CO₂-saturated brine in a batch reactor at relevant geologic storage conditions (85°C and 23.8 MPa CO₂ pressure) for 6 months. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, computed tomography, and brine chemistry analyses were performed before and after the exposure. Permeability measurements from the marine shale and sandstone core samples before and after CO₂/brine exposure indicated a significant effective permeability change. Sealing marine shale permeability increased following exposure while the permeability of the sandstone from the storage formation was observed to decrease. Analysis results of the primary sealing formation sample (marine shale) at the Plant Daniel CO₂ storage test site have not been reported before. In conclusion, the permeability decrease of the Lower Tuscaloosa sandstone sample reported in this study verifies the results reported in a previous study. These results have implications for the integrity of the primary seal in a CO₂ storage setting.

• Research Organization: National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 1476993
• Journal Information: Environmental Engineering Science (Online), Journal Name: Environmental Engineering Science (Online) Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 35; ISSN 1557-9018
• Publisher: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
CO2 sequestration
CO2 storage
chemical interaction
geologic carbon storage
marine shale
permeability
saline aquifer