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

Title: Mineralogical and transport controls on the evolution of porous media texture using direct numerical simulation

Journal Article · · Water Resources Research
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2016WR020323· OSTI ID:1476493
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [1]
  1. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Geosciences Division
  2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Computational Research Division
  3. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Computational Research Division; Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering
+ Show Author Affiliations

The evolution of porous media due to mineral dissolution and precipitation can change the bulk properties of subsurface materials. The pore-scale structure of the media, including its physical and mineralogical heterogeneity, exerts controls on porous media evolution via transport limitations to reactive surfaces and mineral accessibility. Here in this paper we explore how these controls affect the evolution of the texture in porous media at the pore scale. For this purpose, a pore-scale flow and reactive transport model is developed that explicitly tracks mineral surfaces as they evolve using a direct numerical simulation approach. Simulations of dissolution in single-mineral domains provide insights into the transport controls at the pore scale, while the simulation of a fracture surface composed of bands of faster-dissolving calcite and slower-dissolving dolomite provides insights into the mineralogical controls on evolution. Transport-limited conditions at the grain-pack scale may result in unstable evolution, a situation in which dissolution is focused in a fast-flowing, fast-dissolving path. Due to increasing velocities, the evolution in these regions is like that observed under conditions closer to strict surface control at the pore scale. That is, grains evolve to have oblong shapes with their long dimensions aligning with the local flow directions. Another example of an evolving reactive transport regime that affects local rates is seen in the evolution of the fracture surface. As calcite dissolves, the diffusive length between the fracture flow path and the receding calcite surfaces increases. Thus, the calcite dissolution reaction becomes increasingly limited by diffusion.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); 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)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1476493
Journal Information:
Water Resources Research, Vol. 53, Issue 5; ISSN 0043-1397
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 35 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (37)

A 2.5D Reactive Transport Model for Fracture Alteration Simulation journal July 2016
Pore-space structure and average dissolution rates: A simulation study: PORE-SPACE STRUCTURE AND AVERAGE DISSOLUTION RATES journal September 2016
An adaptive finite volume method for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations in complex geometries journal January 2015
Evaporite Caprock Integrity: An Experimental Study of Reactive Mineralogy and Pore-Scale Heterogeneity during Brine-CO 2 Exposure journal August 2012
Pore Scale Processes Associated with Subsurface CO2 Injection and Sequestration journal January 2013
Alterations of Fractures in Carbonate Rocks by CO 2 -Acidified Brines journal August 2015
Reactive Interfaces in Direct Numerical Simulation of Pore-Scale Processes journal January 2015
Diffusion control of quartz and forsterite dissolution rates journal October 2015
Lattice Boltzmann-Based Approaches for Pore-Scale Reactive Transport journal January 2015
Wormhole formation in dissolving fractures journal January 2009
On the ability of a Darcy-scale model to capture wormhole formation during the dissolution of a porous medium journal April 2002
A three-dimensional level set simulation of coupled reactive transport and precipitation/dissolution journal June 2010
Simulations of reactive transport and precipitation with smoothed particle hydrodynamics journal March 2007
Modifications of Carbonate Fracture Hydrodynamic Properties by CO 2 -Acidified Brine Flow journal April 2013
Measurement of accessible reactive surface area in a sandstone, with application to CO2 mineralization journal July 2012
Comparative study of the kinetics and mechanisms of dissolution of carbonate minerals journal December 1989
High-Resolution Simulation of Pore-Scale Reactive Transport Processes Associated with Carbon Sequestration journal November 2014
Modeling and simulation of pore-scale multiphase fluid flow and reactive transport in fractured and porous media journal January 2009
Upscaling calcium carbonate precipitation rates from pore to continuum scale journal July 2012
The kinetics of calcite dissolution in CO 2 -water systems at 5 degrees to 60 degrees C and 0.0 to 1.0 atm CO 2 journal February 1978
Effects of mineral spatial distribution on reaction rates in porous media: EFFECTS OF MINERAL SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION journal January 2007
Deterioration of a fractured carbonate caprock exposed to CO 2 -acidified brine flow : Deterioration of a fractured carbonate caprock exposed to CO journal August 2011
From pore scale to wellbore scale: Impact of geometry on wormhole growth in carbonate acidization journal June 2008
Scale dependence of mineral dissolution rates within single pores and fractures journal January 2008
Wormhole formation and compact dissolution in single- and two-phase CO 2 -brine injections journal April 2015
Characterization and Analysis of Porosity and Pore Structures journal January 2015
Determination of mineral dissolution regimes using flow-through time-resolved analysis (FT-TRA) and numerical simulation journal July 2016
Accessibilities of reactive minerals in consolidated sedimentary rock: An imaging study of three sandstones journal July 2009
Asymmetric collapse by dissolution or melting in a uniform flow journal January 2016
An investigation of the effect of pore scale flow on average geochemical reaction rates using direct numerical simulation: EFFECT OF PORE SCALE FLOW ON GEOCHEMICAL REACTION RATES journal March 2012
Dissolution kinetics of calcite, dolomite and magnesite at 25 °C and 0 to 50 atm pCO2 journal April 2005
Where Lower Calcite Abundance Creates More Alteration: Enhanced Rock Matrix Diffusivity Induced by Preferential Dissolution journal December 2015
The mineral dissolution rate conundrum: Insights from reactive transport modeling of U isotopes and pore fluid chemistry in marine sediments journal January 2006
Pore-Scale Controls on Calcite Dissolution Rates from Flow-through Laboratory and Numerical Experiments journal June 2014
Numerical Efficiency Assessment of IB–LB Method for 3D Pore-Scale Modeling of Flow and Transport journal April 2015
An embedded boundary method for the Navier–Stokes equations on a time-dependent domain journal January 2012
Pore evolution and channel formation during flow and reaction in porous media journal January 1988

Cited By (6)

Simulation of mineral dissolution at the pore scale with evolving fluid-solid interfaces: review of approaches and benchmark problem set journal January 2020
Multi-scale Model of Reactive Transport in Fractured Media: Diffusion Limitations on Rates journal March 2019
Pore-scale modelling of multiphase reactive flow: application to mineral dissolution with production of journal September 2018
Permeability Prediction in Rocks Experiencing Mineral Precipitation and Dissolution: A Numerical Study journal April 2019
Mineral Precipitation in Fractures: Using the Level‐Set Method to Quantify the Role of Mineral Heterogeneity on Transport Properties journal May 2019
Effect of Pore-Scale Mineral Spatial Heterogeneity on Chemically Induced Alterations of Fractured Rock: A Lattice Boltzmann Study journal July 2018

Similar Records

EFFECTS OF PORE STRUCTURE CHANGE AND MULTI-SCALE HETEROGENEITY ON CONTAMINANT TRANSPORT AND REACTION RATE UPSCALING
Technical Report · Fri Feb 15 00:00:00 EST 2013 · OSTI ID:1476493
+3 more
Application of a pore-scale reactive transport model to a natural analog for reaction-induced pore alterations
Journal Article · Thu Jan 05 00:00:00 EST 2017 · Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering · OSTI ID:1476493
+1 more
Mineral dissolution kinetics at the pore scale
Journal Article · Thu May 24 00:00:00 EDT 2007 · Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta · OSTI ID:1476493

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
58 GEOSCIENCES