Computer simulation of CO2 trapped through mineral precipitation in the Rose Run Sandstone, Ohio

Abstract Equilibrium, path-of-reaction and kinetic modeling of CO2–brine–mineral reactions in the Rose Run Sandstone, one of Ohio’s deep saline aquifers, was conducted in order to investigate the factors that are likely to influence the capacity of this formation to trap injected CO2 as solid carbonate mineral phases. Equilibrium modeling was applied to investigate the impact of temperature, pressure, mineralogy, brine composition, and CO2 fugacity on mineral dissolution and precipitation, the amount of CO2 sequestered, and the form of sequestration. Path of reaction and kinetic modeling were used to evaluate intermediate products and reaction progress as a function of time, as well as to investigate the impact of brine-to-rock ratio. The results of equilibrium modeling demonstrate that dissolution of albite, K-feldspar, and glauconite, and the precipitation of dawsonite and siderite are potentially very important for mineral trapping of CO2. According to the path of reaction and kinetic modelling, the stability of carbonate rocks is controlled by the brine-to-rock ratio, the pH of the system, the fugacity of CO2, and the kinetic rate of dissolution. In kinetic modeling, with a brine-to-rock ratio of 1:25, reactive surface area of 10 cm2/g, 10 MPa f CO 2 , and 12% porosity (1.5–2 g of CO2 per kg of reacted rock), significant quantities (10–40 g) of carbonate minerals were precipitated from both the sandstone and mixed rock assemblages. The Rose Run Sandstone has the potential to store CO2 over millennia as a negatively buoyant aqueous solution and, ultimately, as immobile carbonate minerals.

[1]  H. Drange,et al.  Ocean release of fossil fuel CO2: A case study , 2001 .

[2]  W. Gunter,et al.  Aquifer disposal of acid gases: modelling of water–rock reactions for trapping of acid wastes , 2000 .

[3]  D. Janecky,et al.  Experimental evaluation of mixed fluid reactions between supercritical carbon dioxide and NaCl brine: Relevance to the integrity of a geologic carbon repository , 2005 .

[4]  G. Faure,et al.  Interpretation of chemical and isotopic compositions of brines based on mixing and dilution, “Clinton” sandstones, eastern Ohio, U.S.A. , 1988 .

[5]  T. Pačes.  The kinetics of base cation release due to chemical weathering , 1990 .

[6]  S. Bachu.  Sequestration of CO2 in geological media in response to climate change: road map for site selection using the transform of the geological space into the CO2 phase space , 2002 .

[7]  Edward M. Winter,et al.  Disposal of power plant CO2 in depleted oil and gas reservoirs in Texas , 1997 .

[8]  Craig M. Bethke,et al.  Geochemical reaction modeling , 1996 .

[9]  Zhenhao Duan,et al.  An improved model calculating CO2 solubility in pure water and aqueous NaCl solutions from 273 to 533 K and from 0 to 2000 bar , 2003 .

[10]  Robert W. Masters,et al.  Chemical and isotopic characteristics of brines from three oil- and gas-producing sandstones in eastern Ohio, with applications to the geochemical tracing of brine sources , 1985 .

[11]  Sam Holloway,et al.  STORAGE OF FOSSIL FUEL-DERIVED CARBON DIOXIDE BENEATH THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH , 2001 .

[12]  Carl I. Steefel,et al.  Reactive Transport Modeling of Geologic CO{sub 2} Sequestration in Saline Aquifers: The Influence of Intra-Aquifer Shales and the Relative Effectiveness of Structural, Solubility, and Mineral Trapping During Prograde and Retrograde Sequestration , 2001 .

[13]  R. Klusman,et al.  Evaluation of leakage potential from a carbon dioxide EOR/sequestration project , 2003 .

[14]  W. Gunter,et al.  Aquifer disposal of CO2-rich greenhouse gases: Extension of the time scale of experiment for CO2-sequestering reactions by geochemical modelling , 1997 .

[15]  P. Aagaard,et al.  Thermodynamic and kinetic constraints on reaction rates among minerals and aqueous solutions. II. Rate constants, effective surface area, and the hydrolysis of feldspar , 1984 .

[16]  H. Helgeson,et al.  Thermodynamics of hydrothermal systems at elevated temperatures and pressures , 1969 .

[17]  Klaus S. Lackner,et al.  CARBONATE CHEMISTRY FOR SEQUESTERING FOSSIL CARBON , 2003 .

[18]  E. M. Winter,et al.  Disposal of carbon dioxide in aquifers in the U.S. , 1995 .

[19]  D. Janecky,et al.  Carbon dioxide reaction processes in a model brine aquifer at 200 °C and 200 bars: implications for geologic sequestration of carbon , 2003 .

[20]  G. Seneviratne.  Global warming and terrestrial carbon sequestration , 2003, Journal of Biosciences.

[21]  Neeraj Gupta,et al.  Variable‐density flow in the midcontinent basins and arches region of the United States , 1997 .

[22]  J. C. Baker,et al.  Continental-scale magmatic carbon-dioxide seepage recorded by Dawsonite in the Bowen-Gunnedah-Sydney Basin System, eastern Australia , 1995 .

[23]  A. Lasaga.  Chapter 2. FUNDAMENTAL APPROACHES IN DESCRIBING MINERAL DISSOLUTION AND PRECIPITATION RATES , 1995 .

[24]  J. Acker,et al.  The influence of pH on biotite dissolution and alteration kinetics at low temperature , 1992 .

[25]  Mary Peterson,et al.  Role of reactive-surface-area characterization in geochemical kinetic models , 1990 .

[26]  A. Janssens.  Stratigraphy of the Cambrian and Lower Ordovician rocks in Ohio , 1973 .

[27]  Stefan Bachu,et al.  Aquifer disposal of CO2: Hydrodynamic and mineral trapping , 1994 .

[28]  E. Busenberg,et al.  The kinetics of dissolution of dolomite in CO 2 -H 2 O systems at 1.5 to 65 degrees C and O to 1 atm PCO 2 , 1982 .

[29]  J. D. Rimstidt,et al.  The kinetics of silica-water reactions , 1980 .

[30]  David L. Parkhurst,et al.  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 , 1978 .