This talk discusses pore-scale controls on multiphase flow in vesicular basalts for carbon storage and mineralization processes. Multiphase flow adds an additional mass transfer step across brine-CO2 phase boundaries and spatially impacts reactant mixing paths, mineral (e.g., carbonate) growth patterns, and relative permeability during supercritical CO2 injection. Ergo, consistent...
Fast carbon dioxide (CO2) mineralization has been recently observed in mafic and ultramafic rocks, promoting CO2 stabilization and reducing risky reliance on caprock integrity. However, there are currently many unknowns surrounding these new observations, including reaction kinetics for different minerals. In the current study, we apply neutron reflectometry (NR) to make in situ observations...
Mineral dissolution and precipitation play a critical role in geofluid processes such as CO₂ mineralization, subsurface H₂ storage, and in-situ leaching. Despite their importance, the coupled dynamics of dissolution and precipitation underexplored, as most studies have examined them independently. In this study, we investigate the interplay between mineral dissolution and precipitation,...
Understanding the interplay between mineral dissolution and precipitation in fractured porous media is crucial for advancing carbon mineralization processes. Fractures are often expected to act as highways for supplying CO2-charged water, while the matrix is anticipated to serve as a storage space. However, how the interplay between mineral dissolution and precipitation controls mineralization...
One promising proposed strategy to reduce the CO2 level in the atmosphere is inject it into the subsurface and permanently trap it via geochemical reactions, where the CO2 reacts with the formation to precipitate carbonate minerals (i.e., carbon mineralization). While the total amount of mineralized carbon depends on coupled processes: chemical, hydrological, mechanical, and thermal, the...
During in situ carbon mineralization, the mixing of injected carbonated water with ambient groundwater can trigger rapid mineral formation. Notably, pH strongly influences carbonate speciation, which is pivotal in driving carbon mineralization. Previous studies have shown that when two fluids mix and create a supersaturated environment with respect to certain minerals, precipitates form at the...
To abate the effects of global climate disruption, removal and storage of atmospheric CO2 will be paramount to decrease the greenhouse effect. Subsurface carbon mineralization in mafic-ultramafic rocks has been demonstrated to permanently store injected CO2 as carbonate minerals. Ultramafic rocks, have typically higher reactive storage potential compared to their mafic counterparts, yet...
Reactive transport processes in porous media have a significant impact on many subsurface energy activities including in-situ, ex-situ carbon sequestration, long-term performance of enhanced geothermal systems, geologic hydrogen storage, unconventional resources recovery among others. Over the past two decades, our understanding of pore-scale reactive transport processes has been dramatically...
Mineral precipitation induced by the pore-scale mixing of fluids with different reactants plays a vital role in various subsurface processes and applications, such as carbon mineralization, contaminant transport, and hydrogen storage. During in situ carbon mineralization, the mixing between injected carbonated water and ambient groundwater may lead to rapid mineralization. Most previous...
Mineral dissolution and precipitation significantly impact many geofluid systems, such as carbon mineralization and in-situ leaching. Despite its widespread observation across various fields, the mechanism to facilitate these reactions has not been proposed yet. In this study, we demonstrated that the natural convection can facilitate mineral dissolution and corresponding precipitation in a...
Basalt carbonation has gained traction as a large-capacity technique to manage atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and potentially avoid the most dramatic impacts of climate change. Yet, while several successful injection operations have demonstrated the efficacy of this technique at the scale of thousands of tons of CO2 injected per year, achieving the necessary impact on...
Owing to its ubiquity and the complexities arising from the coupling of flow with reaction, mineral precipitation in porous media remains a continued area of research in reactive transport. An area of current focus is the mineralization of CO2 in the subsurface. This is an attractive proposition because it allows for the secure and permanent sequestration of this greenhouse gas in subsurface...
Efficient implementation of CO2 mineralization can be a fast and safe method for the long-term disposal of anthropogenic CO2. However, quantifying mineralized CO2 can be a challenge in assessing CO2 mineralization projects. Modelling can facilitate the long-term and large-scale assessment of mineralisation if a reliable model can be developed. Herein, a series of history-matching exercises was...
Despite extensive global efforts to mitigate climate change, CO2 emissions continue to rise, emphasizing the necessity of geologic carbon sequestration (GCS). CO2 mineralization is one of the effective methods of GCS, using CO2-fluid-rock reaction; after injection of CO2-charged water, CO2 is rapidly and permanently immobilized through carbon mineralization. In general, mafic/ultramafic rocks...
Carbon mineralization is a promising method of geological carbon storage since it enables safe storage on a short time scale, which typically requires a long time when supercritical CO2 is stored. Basalt is considered a potential host rock formation for carbon mineralization, as it is abundant globally and located at relatively shallow depths, providing advantages in terms of capacity and...
Mixing-induced mineral precipitation significantly influences various natural and engineered processes such as carbon mineralization, aquifer recharge, and enhanced geothermal systems. Traditionally, this process has been viewed as self-limiting due to the formation of a thin precipitate layer along the mixing interface, which inhibits further fluid mixing and subsequent precipitation [1]....
Mineral carbonation and hydration involve a large solid volume increase of tens of percent and may result in clogging of pores in the rocks and inhibit further reaction. On the other hand, natural observation of carbonated or hydrated peridotite and serpentinite suggests that the volume increase of the reactions can fracture rocks, enhance fluid flow, and promote further reactions [1,2]. Such...
The primary objective of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) applications in porous media is to achieve a stable and planar CO2 displacement front, thereby suppressing viscous fingering. Particularly, a stable front can ensure uniform and exhaustive carbonation throughout a reactive medium. Drawing inspiration from experimental observations of CO2 flooding into cores of portland cement-based...
In situ carbon mineralization in basalt, is a necessary, yet underdeveloped strategy to mitigate the worsening impacts of climate change. In this regard, the Wallula Basalt Carbon Storage pilot project, led by PNNL, is the world’s only field-scale injection of supercritical CO2 in basalt formations and the only demonstration where rock samples containing anthropogenic carbonates have been...
