skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Clay Swelling in Dry Supercritical Carbon Dioxide: Effects of Interlayer Cations on the Structure, Dynamics, and Energetics of CO 2 Intercalation Probed by XRD, NMR, and GCMD Simulations

Journal Article · · Journal of Physical Chemistry. C

In situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments combined with molecular dynamics simulations using the grand canonical ensemble [grand canonical molecular dynamics (GCMD)] show that the cation size, charge, and solvation energy play critical roles in determining the interlayer expansion of smectite clay minerals when exposed to dry supercritical scCO2 (scCO2) under conditions relevant to petroleum reservoirs and geological CO2 sequestration conditions. The GCMD results show that the smectite mineral, hectorite, containing interlayer alkali and alkaline earth cations with small ionic radii and high solvation energies (e.g., Na+ and Ca2+) does not intercalate CO2 and that the fully collapsed interlayer structure is the most energetically stable configuration. With Cs+ and Ba2+, the monolayer structure is the stable configuration, and CO2 should spontaneously enter the interlayer. With Cs+, there is not even an energy barrier for CO2 intercalation, in agreement with the XRD and NMR results. 13C NMR and simulations show that the average orientation of the intercalated CO2 is with their O-C-O axes parallel to the basal clay surface and that they undergo a rapid rotation about an axis perpendicular to the main molecular axis. The simulations show that the strength of the interaction between the exchangeable cation and the clay structure dominates the intercalation energetics in dry scCO2.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1502419
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-136310
Journal Information:
Journal of Physical Chemistry. C, Vol. 122, Issue 8; ISSN 1932-7447
Publisher:
American Chemical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (63)

Role and impact of CO2–rock interactions during CO2 storage in sedimentary rocks journal January 2010
A Guide to CO2 Sequestration journal June 2003
CO2 Sequestration in Deep Sedimentary Formations journal October 2008
CO2 storage capacity estimation: Methodology and gaps journal October 2007
Geochemical Impacts to Groundwater from Geologic Carbon Sequestration: Controls on pH and Inorganic Carbon Concentrations from Reaction Path and Kinetic Modeling journal June 2010
Pore system changes during experimental CO2 injection into detritic rocks: Studies of potential storage rocks from some sedimentary basins of Spain journal September 2013
Modeling and simulation of pore-scale multiphase fluid flow and reactive transport in fractured and porous media journal January 2009
Role of Cations in CO 2 Adsorption, Dynamics, and Hydration in Smectite Clays under in Situ Supercritical CO 2 Conditions journal December 2016
Near-infrared spectroscopic investigation of water in supercritical CO2 and the effect of CaCl2 journal January 2013
Interaction of carbon dioxide with Na-exchanged montmorillonite at pressures to 640bars: Implications for CO2 sequestration journal May 2012
X-ray Diffraction Study of K- and Ca-Exchanged Montmorillonites in CO 2 Atmospheres journal April 2012
Microstructural Response of Variably Hydrated Ca-rich Montmorillonite to Supercritical CO 2 journal June 2014
In Situ X-ray Diffraction Study of Na + Saturated Montmorillonite Exposed to Variably Wet Super Critical CO 2 journal March 2012
CO 2 Sorption to Subsingle Hydration Layer Montmorillonite Clay Studied by Excess Sorption and Neutron Diffraction Measurements journal August 2012
In situ XRD study of Ca2+ saturated montmorillonite (STX-1) exposed to anhydrous and wet supercritical carbon dioxide journal January 2012
Evidence of irreversible CO2 intercalation in montmorillonite journal May 2013
Competitive sorption of CO2 and H2O in 2:1 layer phyllosilicates journal July 2015
In Situ Molecular Spectroscopic Evidence for CO 2 Intercalation into Montmorillonite in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide journal April 2012
In Situ Study of CO 2 and H 2 O Partitioning between Na–Montmorillonite and Variably Wet Supercritical Carbon Dioxide journal May 2014
Clay Hydration/dehydration in Dry to Water-saturated Supercritical CO2: Implications for Caprock Integrity journal January 2013
FT-IR study of CO2 interaction with Na+ exchanged montmorillonite journal September 2015
In Situ 13 C and 23 Na Magic Angle Spinning NMR Investigation of Supercritical CO 2 Incorporation in Smectite–Natural Organic Matter Composites journal February 2014
Cation Exchange at the Mineral−Water Interface: H 3 O + /K + Competition at the Surface of Nano-Muscovite journal September 2008
Alkali Metal and H 2 O Dynamics at the Smectite/Water Interface journal October 2011
Water Dynamics in Hectorite Clays: Infuence of Temperature Studied by Coupling Neutron Spin Echo and Molecular Dynamics journal April 2011
The structural environments of cations adsorbed onto clays: 133Cs variable-temperature MAS NMR spectroscopic study of hectorite journal June 1990
Structure, Energetics, and Dynamics of Smectite Clay Interlayer Hydration: Molecular Dynamics and Metadynamics Investigation of Na-Hectorite journal March 2013
Water Structure and Dynamics in Smectites: X-ray Diffraction and 2 H NMR Spectroscopy of Mg–, Ca–, Sr–, Na–, Cs–, and Pb–Hectorite journal April 2016
Water diffusion in a synthetic hectorite by neutron scattering—beyond the isotropic translational model journal February 2008
Structure, Energetics, and Dynamics of Cs + and H 2 O in Hectorite: Molecular Dynamics Simulations with an Unconstrained Substrate Surface journal May 2016
Multiscale Water Dynamics within Dense Clay Sediments Probed by 2 H Multiquantum NMR Relaxometry and Two-Time Stimulated Echo NMR Spectroscopy journal December 2013
Cation and Water Structure, Dynamics, and Energetics in Smectite Clays: A Molecular Dynamics Study of Ca–Hectorite journal June 2016
Molecular Simulation of Structure and Diffusion at Smectite–Water Interfaces: Using Expanded Clay Interlayers as Model Nanopores journal July 2015
Structural Arrangements of Isomorphic Substitutions in Smectites: Molecular Simulation of the Swelling Properties, Interlayer Structure, and Dynamics of Hydrated Cs–Montmorillonite Revisited with New Clay Models journal June 2014
Effects of substrate structure and composition on the structure, dynamics, and energetics of water at mineral surfaces: A molecular dynamics modeling study journal February 2006
Carbon Dioxide in Montmorillonite Clay Hydrates: Thermodynamics, Structure, and Transport from Molecular Simulation journal August 2010
Molecular Simulation Study of Montmorillonite in Contact with Variably Wet Supercritical Carbon Dioxide journal March 2017
Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Carbon Dioxide Intercalation in Hydrated Na-Montmorillonite journal May 2013
Multiphase Monte Carlo and Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Water and CO 2 Intercalation in Montmorillonite and Beidellite journal June 2015
Molecular Understanding of CO 2 and H 2 O in a Montmorillonite Clay Interlayer under CO 2 Geological Sequestration Conditions journal February 2016
Effect of Layer Charge on CO 2 and H 2 O Intercalations in Swelling Clays journal October 2016
Supercritical Carbon Dioxide at Smectite Mineral–Water Interfaces: Molecular Dynamics and Adaptive Biasing Force Investigation of CO 2 /H 2 O Mixtures Nanoconfined in Na-Montmorillonite journal October 2015
Molecular Dynamics Study of CO 2 and H 2 O Intercalation in Smectite Clays: Effect of Temperature and Pressure on Interlayer Structure and Dynamics in Hectorite journal October 2017
Experimental determination of porosity and permeability changes induced by injection of CO2 into carbonate rocks journal July 2009
Changes in Porosity Due to Acid Gas Injection As Determined by X-Ray Computed Tomography journal August 2006
Tipping Point for Expansion of Layered Aluminosilicates in Weakly Polar Solvents: Supercritical CO 2 journal October 2017
Structural and dynamical relationships of Ca2+ and H2O in smectite/2H2O systems journal February 2014
High-pressure magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance journal October 2011
Rotor design for high pressure magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance journal January 2013
Geometry and Dynamics of Intercalated Water in Na-Fluorhectorite Clay Hydrates journal January 2008
Smectite fluorination and its impact on interlayer water content and structure: A way to fine tune the hydrophilicity of clay surfaces? journal November 2013
Grand canonical molecular dynamics journal December 2003
RASPA: molecular simulation software for adsorption and diffusion in flexible nanoporous materials journal February 2015
Simulations of Clay Mineral Swelling and Hydration:  Dependence upon Interlayer Ion Size and Charge journal October 2000
Molecular Models of Hydroxide, Oxyhydroxide, and Clay Phases and the Development of a General Force Field journal January 2004
Molecular Simulation of Carbon Dioxide Capture by Montmorillonite Using an Accurate and Flexible Force Field journal June 2012
A New Two-Constant Equation of State journal February 1976
Molecular Computer Simulations of the Swelling Properties and Interlayer Structure of Cesium Montmorillonite journal September 1998
X-ray Studies of Carbon Dioxide Intercalation in Na-Fluorohectorite Clay at Near-Ambient Conditions journal January 2012
Molecular Simulations of Carbon Dioxide and Water: Cation Solvation journal July 2012
Molecular Simulation of Interlayer Structure and Dynamics in 12.4 Å Cs-Smectite Hydrates journal May 2001
Single crystal structure refinement of tetramethylammonium-hectorite journal March 2005
Diffusion of Na and Cs in montmorillonite journal April 2008

Cited By (2)

Review of Molecular Simulation Method for Gas Adsorption/desorption and Diffusion in Shale Matrix journal September 2018
Understanding methane/carbon dioxide partitioning in clay nano- and meso-pores with constant reservoir composition molecular dynamics modeling journal January 2019