Porosity-Permeability Evolution During Simultaneous Mineral Dissolution and Precipitation

Sabo, Mollie S.; Beckingham, Lauren E.

doi:10.1029/2020wr029072

Porosity-Permeability Evolution During Simultaneous Mineral Dissolution and Precipitation

Journal Article · Thu Jun 03 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Water Resources Research

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2020wr029072· OSTI ID:1849315

^[1]; ^[2]

Auburn Univ., AL (United States). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Auburn Univ., Auburn, AL (United States)
Auburn Univ., AL (United States). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Permeability in reactive porous media evolves in complex ways that are hard to predict. Macroscopic empirical equations are often used to estimate permeability evolution but fail to reflect the impact of pore scale reactions on permeability. This work aims to understand the evolution of permeability in systems where mineral dissolution and precipitation occur simultaneously. Pore network models are used for permeability simulation of a Paluxy sandstone using pore and pore-throat size distributions from the analysis of X-ray CT images. Pore and pore-throat radii are increased and decreased to reflect the effects of dissolution and precipitation reactions. Varying spatial distributions of reactions are simulated and the resulting porosity and permeability values compared with commonly used macroscopic equations. It is observed that when dissolution occurs at the inlet and precipitation at the outlet, porosity increases while permeability decreases. Similar results are also observed in the respective opposite scenario where precipitation occurs at the inlet and dissolution at the outlet. When dissolution and precipitation reactions are randomly distributed throughout the network, porosity increases with little change in permeability that is not captured by the empirical equations. When reactions are controlled by pore and pore-throat sizes, such as dissolution occurring in pores and pore-throats of small size and precipitation in pores and pore-throats of larger size, porosity and permeability decrease. When precipitation occurs in pores and pore-throats of smaller size and dissolution in pores and pore-throats of larger size, porosity and permeability increase and is described relatively well by the Verma-Pruess porosity-permeability equation.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Southern States Energy Board, Peachtree Corners, GA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)

Grant/Contract Number:: FE0031830

OSTI ID:: 1849315

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1788138

Journal Information:: Water Resources Research, Journal Name: Water Resources Research Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 57; ISSN 0043-1397

Publisher:: American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (58)

Permeability, porosity, and mineral surface area changes in basalt cores induced by reactive transport of CO ₂ -rich brine : PHYSICAL CHANGES FROM REACTION IN BASALT Luhmann, Andrew J.; Tutolo, Benjamin M.; Bagley, Brian C. Water Resources Research, Vol. 53, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/2016WR019216	journal	March 2017
Permeability evolution due to dissolution and precipitation of carbonates using reactive transport modeling in pore networks: Permeability evolution due to reaction of carbonates Nogues, Juan P.; Fitts, Jeffrey P.; Celia, Michael A. Water Resources Research, Vol. 49, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1002/wrcr.20486	journal	September 2013
A New Method for Generating Pore-Network Models of Porous Media Raoof, Amir; Hassanizadeh, S. Majid Transport in Porous Media, Vol. 81, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-009-9412-3	journal	May 2009
Pore Scale Modeling of Reactive Transport Involved in Geologic CO2 Sequestration Kang, Qinjun; Lichtner, Peter C.; Viswanathan, Hari S. Transport in Porous Media, Vol. 82, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-009-9443-9	journal	July 2009
Dependence of Pore-to-Core Up-scaled Reaction Rate on Flow Rate in Porous Media Kim, D.; Lindquist, W. B. Transport in Porous Media, Vol. 89, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-011-9780-3	journal	May 2011
Experimental Characterization of Porosity Structure and Transport Property Changes in Limestone Undergoing Different Dissolution Regimes Luquot, L.; Rodriguez, O.; Gouze, P. Transport in Porous Media, Vol. 101, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-013-0257-4	journal	February 2014
Anti-correlated Porosity–Permeability Changes During the Dissolution of Carbonate Rocks: Experimental Evidences and Modeling Garing, C.; Gouze, P.; Kassab, M. Transport in Porous Media, Vol. 107, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-015-0456-2	journal	January 2015
Porosity–Permeability Relations for Evolving Pore Space: A Review with a Focus on (Bio-)geochemically Altered Porous Media Hommel, Johannes; Coltman, Edward; Class, Holger Transport in Porous Media, Vol. 124, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-018-1086-2	journal	May 2018
Fluid flow through granular beds Carman, P. C. Chemical Engineering Research and Design, Vol. 75 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0263-8762(97)80003-2	journal	December 1997
Upscaling geochemical reaction rates using pore-scale network modeling Li, Li; Peters, Catherine A.; Celia, Michael A. Advances in Water Resources, Vol. 29, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2005.10.011	journal	September 2006
Pore network modelling to determine the transport properties in presence of a reactive fluid: From pore to reservoir scale Varloteaux, Clément; Békri, Samir; Adler, Pierre M. Advances in Water Resources, Vol. 53 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2012.10.004	journal	March 2013
2D and 3D imaging resolution trade-offs in quantifying pore throats for prediction of permeability Beckingham, L. E.; Peters, C. A.; Um, W. Advances in Water Resources, Vol. 62 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2013.08.010	journal	December 2013
CO2-induced dissolution of low permeability carbonates. Part I: Characterization and experiments Smith, Megan M.; Sholokhova, Yelena; Hao, Yue Advances in Water Resources, Vol. 62 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2013.09.008	journal	December 2013
CO2-induced dissolution of low permeability carbonates. Part II: Numerical modeling of experiments Hao, Yue; Smith, Megan; Sholokhova, Yelena Advances in Water Resources, Vol. 62 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2013.09.009	journal	December 2013
Effects of pore-scale precipitation on permeability and flow Noiriel, Catherine; Steefel, Carl I.; Yang, Li Advances in Water Resources, Vol. 95 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2015.11.013	journal	September 2016
Using plug-flow column reactor data to constrain calcic mineral weathering rates from watershed mass-balance methods: Lithogenic apatite dissolution and phosphorus fluxes into the Loch Vale Watershed ecosystem, Colorado, USA Price, Jason R.; Nunez, Jacob; Moore, Joel Applied Geochemistry, Vol. 120 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2020.104664	journal	September 2020
Faro Waste Rock Project: Characterizing geochemical heterogeneity in sulfide- and carbonate-rich waste rock Bao, Zhongwen; Bain, Jeff; Holland, Steven P. Applied Geochemistry, Vol. 121 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2020.104691	journal	October 2020
Formation of secondary mineral coatings and the persistence of reduced metal-bearing phases in soils developing on historic coal mine spoil Singer, David M.; Herndon, Elizabeth; Cole, Kortney Applied Geochemistry, Vol. 121 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2020.104711	journal	October 2020
Experimental determination of porosity and permeability changes induced by injection of CO2 into carbonate rocks Luquot, L.; Gouze, P. Chemical Geology, Vol. 265, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2009.03.028	journal	July 2009
Changes in porosity, permeability, water retention curve and reactive surface area during carbonate rock dissolution Rötting, Tobias S.; Luquot, Linda; Carrera, Jesus Chemical Geology, Vol. 403 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2015.03.008	journal	May 2015
Reservoir condition imaging of reactive transport in heterogeneous carbonates using fast synchrotron tomography — Effect of initial pore structure and flow conditions Menke, H. P.; Andrew, M. G.; Blunt, M. J. Chemical Geology, Vol. 428 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2016.02.030	journal	June 2016
Impact of image resolution on quantification of mineral abundances and accessible surface areas Qin, Fanqi; Beckingham, Lauren E. Chemical Geology, Vol. 523 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2019.06.004	journal	September 2019
Direct imaging of coupled dissolution-precipitation and growth processes on calcite exposed to chromium-rich fluids Guren, Marthe G.; Putnis, Christine V.; Montes-Hernandez, German Chemical Geology, Vol. 552 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2020.119770	journal	October 2020
Reactive chemical transport simulations of geologic carbon sequestration: Methods and applications Dai, Zhenxue; Xu, Lulu; Xiao, Ting Earth-Science Reviews, Vol. 208 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103265	journal	September 2020
Numerical modeling of pore-scale phenomena during CO2 sequestration in oceanic sediments Kang, Qinjun; Tsimpanogiannis, Ioannis N.; Zhang, Dongxiao Fuel Processing Technology, Vol. 86, Issue 14-15 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2005.02.001	journal	October 2005
Interfacial energy effects and the evolution of pore size distributions during quartz precipitation in sandstone Emmanuel, Simon; Ague, Jay J.; Walderhaug, Olav Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 74, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2010.03.019	journal	June 2010
Barite precipitation following celestite dissolution in a porous medium: A SEM/BSE and μ-XRD/XRF study Poonoosamy, J.; Curti, E.; Kosakowski, G. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 182 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2016.03.011	journal	June 2016
Evaluation of accessible mineral surface areas for improved prediction of mineral reaction rates in porous media Beckingham, Lauren E.; Steefel, Carl I.; Swift, Alexander M. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 205 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2017.02.006	journal	May 2017
Chemical reactions, porosity, and microfracturing in shale during weathering: The effect of erosion rate Gu, Xin; Rempe, Daniella M.; Dietrich, William E. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 269 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2019.09.044	journal	January 2020
Hydro-dynamically controlled alteration of fractured Portland cements flowed by CO2-rich brine Luquot, L.; Abdoulghafour, H.; Gouze, P. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, Vol. 16 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2013.04.002	journal	August 2013
CO 2 -rich brine percolation experiments through Heletz reservoir rock samples (Israel): Role of the flow rate and brine composition Luquot, Linda; Gouze, Philippe; Niemi, Auli International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, Vol. 48 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2015.10.023	journal	May 2016
Experimental investigation of changes in petrophysical properties during CO 2 injection into dolomite-rich rocks Khather, Mohamed; Saeedi, Ali; Rezaee, Reza International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, Vol. 59 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2017.02.007	journal	April 2017
Experimental evaluation of carbonated brine-limestone interactions under reservoir conditions-emphasis on the effect of core scale heterogeneities Khather, Mohamed; Saeedi, Ali; Rezaee, Reza International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, Vol. 68 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2017.11.002	journal	January 2018
Reservoir-condition pore-scale imaging of dolomite reaction with supercritical CO 2 acidified brine: Effect of pore-structure on reaction rate using velocity distribution analysis Al-Khulaifi, Yousef; Lin, Qingyang; Blunt, Martin J. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, Vol. 68 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2017.11.011	journal	January 2018
The effect of CO2-induced dissolution on flow properties in Indiana Limestone: An in situ synchrotron X-ray micro-tomography study Voltolini, Marco; Ajo-Franklin, Jonathan International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, Vol. 82 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2018.12.013	journal	March 2019
CO2 storage in the Paluxy formation at the Kemper County CO2 storage complex: Pore network properties and simulated reactive permeability evolution Bensinger, Jacob; Beckingham, Lauren E. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, Vol. 93 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2019.102887	journal	February 2020
CO2 induced changes in Mount Simon sandstone: Understanding links to post CO2 injection monitoring, seismicity, and reservoir integrity Harbert, William; Goodman, Angela; Spaulding, Richard International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, Vol. 100 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2020.103109	journal	September 2020
Changes in porosity, permeability and surface area during rock dissolution: Effects of mineralogical heterogeneity Min, Ting; Gao, Yimin; Chen, Li International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol. 103 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2016.07.043	journal	December 2016
Changes in the pore network structure of Hanford sediment after reaction with caustic tank wastes Crandell, L. E.; Peters, C. A.; Um, W. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, Vol. 131, Issue 1-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconhyd.2012.02.002	journal	April 2012
Dissolution–precipitation processes in tank experiments for testing numerical models for reactive transport calculations: Experiments and modelling Poonoosamy, Jenna; Kosakowski, Georg; Van Loon, Luc R. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, Vol. 177-178 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconhyd.2015.02.007	journal	June 2015
Review of pore network modelling of porous media: Experimental characterisations, network constructions and applications to reactive transport Xiong, Qingrong; Baychev, Todor G.; Jivkov, Andrey P. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, Vol. 192 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconhyd.2016.07.002	journal	September 2016
Damköhler number-based research on dividing dissolution patterns in carbonate acidizing Qi, Ning; Chen, Guobin; Fang, Mingjun Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, Vol. 170 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2018.06.070	journal	November 2018
Scale up of pore-scale transport properties from micro to macro scale; network modelling approach Bashtani, Farzad; Taheri, Saeed; Kantzas, Apostolos Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, Vol. 170 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2018.07.001	journal	November 2018
Wellbore Instability Induced by the Coupling of High-pH Fluid–Shale Reaction and Fracture Surface Sliding in Shale Gas Wells: Experimental and Field Studies Yan, Xiaopeng; Kang, Yili; You, Lijun Energy & Fuels, Vol. 34, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.0c00079	journal	March 2020
Classifying Multiscale Pores and Investigating Their Relationship with Porosity and Permeability in Tight Sandstone Gas Reservoirs Xiao, Dianshi; Lu, Shuangfang; Yang, Jinxiu Energy & Fuels, Vol. 31, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.7b01487	journal	August 2017
Reactive Transport Modeling of Shale–Fluid Interactions after Imbibition of Fracturing Fluids Li, Qingyun; Jew, Adam D.; Brown, Gordon E. Energy & Fuels, Vol. 34, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.9b04542	journal	April 2020
Toward a Spatiotemporal Understanding of Dolomite Dissolution in Sandstone by CO ₂ -Enriched Brine Circulation Ma, Jin; Querci, Lorenzo; Hattendorf, Bodo Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 53, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b04441	journal	October 2019
Mapping secondary mineral formation in porous media using heavy metal tracers: MAPPING MINERALS USING METAL TRACERS Tenthorey, Eric; Scholz, Christopher H. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 107, Issue B10 https://doi.org/10.1029/2000JB000109	journal	October 2002
A smoothed particle hydrodynamics model for reactive transport and mineral precipitation in porous and fractured porous media: SPH REACTIVE TRANSPORT MODEL Tartakovsky, Alexandre M.; Meakin, Paul; Scheibe, Timothy D. Water Resources Research, Vol. 43, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1029/2005WR004770	journal	May 2007
Mixing-induced precipitation: Experimental study and multiscale numerical analysis: MIXING-INDUCED PRECIPITATION Tartakovsky, A. M.; Redden, G.; Lichtner, P. C. Water Resources Research, Vol. 44, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1029/2006WR005725	journal	June 2008
Role of Pore and Pore‐Throat Distributions in Controlling Permeability in Heterogeneous Mineral Dissolution and Precipitation Scenarios Steinwinder, Jeffrey; Beckingham, Lauren E. Water Resources Research, Vol. 55, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR024793	journal	July 2019
Pore Network Model Predictions of Darcy‐Scale Multiphase Flow Heterogeneity Validated by Experiments Zahasky, Christopher; Jackson, Samuel J.; Lin, Qingyang Water Resources Research, Vol. 56, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026708	journal	May 2020
Thermohydrological conditions and silica redistribution near high-level nuclear wastes emplaced in saturated geological formations Verma, A.; Pruess, K. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 93, Issue B2 https://doi.org/10.1029/JB093iB02p01159	journal	January 1988
Joint inversion of NMR and SIP data to estimate pore size distribution of geomaterials Niu, Qifei; Zhang, Chi Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 212, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggx501	journal	November 2017
Reactive Infiltration Instabilities Chadam, J.; Hoff, D.; Merino, E. IMA Journal of Applied Mathematics, Vol. 36, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1093/imamat/36.3.207	journal	January 1986
Generalized network modeling: Network extraction as a coarse-scale discretization of the void space of porous media Raeini, Ali Q.; Bijeljic, Branko; Blunt, Martin J. Physical Review E, Vol. 96, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.96.013312	journal	July 2017
Quantification and Prediction of the 3D Pore Network Evolution in Carbonate Reservoir Rocks De Boever, E.; Varloteaux, C.; Nader, F. H. Oil & Gas Science and Technology – Revue d’IFP Energies nouvelles, Vol. 67, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.2516/ogst/2011170	journal	January 2012
Impact of Diagenetic Alterations on the Petrophysical and Multiphase Flow Properties of Carbonate Rocks Using a Reactive Pore Network Modeling Approach Algive, L.; Békri, S.; Nader, F. H. Oil & Gas Science and Technology – Revue d’IFP Energies nouvelles, Vol. 67, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.2516/ogst/2011171	journal	January 2012

Similar Records

CO₂ storage in the Paluxy formation at the Kemper County CO₂ storage complex: Pore network properties and simulated reactive permeability evolution

Journal Article · Sun Nov 10 23:00:00 EST 2019 · International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control · OSTI ID:1618114

Changes in the pore network structure of Hanford sediment after reaction with caustic tank wastes

Journal Article · Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 EDT 2012 · Journal of Contaminant Hydrology · OSTI ID:1037943

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Water Resources

Porosity-Permeability Evolution During Simultaneous Mineral Dissolution and Precipitation

Citation Formats

References (58)

Similar Records

Related Subjects