Controlling atmospheric warming requires immediate reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, as well as the active removal and sequestration of CO2 from current point sources. One promising proposed strategy to reduce atmospheric CO2 levels is geologic carbon sequestration (GCS), where CO2 is injected into the subsurface and reacts with the formation to precipitate carbonate minerals. Rapid mineralization has recently been reported for field tests in mafic and ultramafic rocks. However, unlike saline aquifers and depleted oil and gas reservoirs historically considered for GCS, these formations can have extremely low porosities and permeabilities, limiting storage volumes and reactive mineral surfaces to the preexisting fracture network. As a result, coupling between geochemical interactions and the fracture network evolution is a critical component of long-term, sustainable carbon storage. In this paper, we summarize recent advances in integrating experimental and modeling approaches to determine the first-order processes for carbon mineralization in a fractured mafic/ultramafic rock system. We observe the critical role of fracture aperture, flow, and surface characteristics in controlling the quantity, identity, and morphology of secondary precipitates and present where the influence of these factors can be reflected in newly developed thermo-hydro-mechanical–chemical models. Our findings provide a roadmap for future work on carbon mineralization, as we present the most important system components and key challenges that we are overcoming to enable GCS in mafic and ultramafic rocks.
Neil, Chelsea W., et al. "An integrated experimental–modeling approach to identify key processes for carbon mineralization in fractured mafic and ultramafic rocks." PNAS Nexus, vol. 3, no. 9, Sep. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae388
Neil, Chelsea W., Yang, Yun, Nisbet, Haylea, Iyare, Uwaila C., Boampong, Lawrence O., Li, Wenfeng, Kang, Qinjun, Hyman, Jeffrey D., Viswanathan, Hari S., & Hu, ed., Mengsu (2024). An integrated experimental–modeling approach to identify key processes for carbon mineralization in fractured mafic and ultramafic rocks. PNAS Nexus, 3(9). https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae388
Neil, Chelsea W., Yang, Yun, Nisbet, Haylea, et al., "An integrated experimental–modeling approach to identify key processes for carbon mineralization in fractured mafic and ultramafic rocks," PNAS Nexus 3, no. 9 (2024), https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae388
@article{osti_2447529,
author = {Neil, Chelsea W. and Yang, Yun and Nisbet, Haylea and Iyare, Uwaila C. and Boampong, Lawrence O. and Li, Wenfeng and Kang, Qinjun and Hyman, Jeffrey D. and Viswanathan, Hari S. and Hu, ed., Mengsu},
title = {An integrated experimental–modeling approach to identify key processes for carbon mineralization in fractured mafic and ultramafic rocks},
annote = {Abstract Controlling atmospheric warming requires immediate reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, as well as the active removal and sequestration of CO2 from current point sources. One promising proposed strategy to reduce atmospheric CO2 levels is geologic carbon sequestration (GCS), where CO2 is injected into the subsurface and reacts with the formation to precipitate carbonate minerals. Rapid mineralization has recently been reported for field tests in mafic and ultramafic rocks. However, unlike saline aquifers and depleted oil and gas reservoirs historically considered for GCS, these formations can have extremely low porosities and permeabilities, limiting storage volumes and reactive mineral surfaces to the preexisting fracture network. As a result, coupling between geochemical interactions and the fracture network evolution is a critical component of long-term, sustainable carbon storage. In this paper, we summarize recent advances in integrating experimental and modeling approaches to determine the first-order processes for carbon mineralization in a fractured mafic/ultramafic rock system. We observe the critical role of fracture aperture, flow, and surface characteristics in controlling the quantity, identity, and morphology of secondary precipitates and present where the influence of these factors can be reflected in newly developed thermo-hydro-mechanical–chemical models. Our findings provide a roadmap for future work on carbon mineralization, as we present the most important system components and key challenges that we are overcoming to enable GCS in mafic and ultramafic rocks.},
doi = {10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae388},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/2447529},
journal = {PNAS Nexus},
issn = {ISSN 2752-6542},
number = {9},
volume = {3},
place = {United States},
publisher = {Oxford University Press},
year = {2024},
month = {09}}
Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center on Geo-processes in Mineral Carbon Storage (GMCS); Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)