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Description
The efficacy of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) within deep saline aquifers depends on the physicochemical interplay between supercritical CO2 (scCO2), formation brine, and the host rock. As scCO2 dissolves, the consequent acidification induces mineral dissolution, which fundamentally modifies pore architecture and hydraulic pathways. Although the impact of dissolution on absolute permeability is well-characterized, its influence on multiphase flow properties, specifically relative permeability (kr), remains poorly understood in current literature.
To address the inherent uncertainty in heterogeneous carbonates, this study applies the Screening for Pore-scale Imaging and Modeling (SPIM) Method. By integrating geometric and topological metrics, sample pairs exhibiting similar flow heterogeneity were identified. This pre-characterization step effectively isolates reaction-induced alterations from intrinsic sample variability, establishing a controlled baseline for comparative analysis. Then a core-flooding strategy coupled with time-lapse X-ray micro-tomography was designed to monitor the 4D evolution of dissolution patterns at reservoir conditions (50◦C, 8 MPa). The experimental design contrasted transport behavior and relative permeability under non-reactive (equilibrated) conditions against reactive (non-equilibrated) drainage processes.
A key analytical advancement of this work involves coupling relative permeability curves against the absolute permeability at multiphase reaction transport conditions. A quantitative comparison of drainage relative permeability curves between fresh and reacted states was presented, demonstrating how reaction-driven heterogeneity generates preferential flow paths that diverge from conventional Darcy approximations. These findings provide essential constitutive relationships for upscaling pore-scale mechanisms to reservoir-scale predictive models
| References | [1] Al-Khulaifi, Y., Lin, Q., Blunt, M. J., & Bijeljic, B. (2019). Pore-Scale Dissolution by CO2 Saturated Brine in a Multimineral Carbonate at Reservoir Conditions: Impact of Physical and Chemical Heterogeneity. Water Resources Research, 55(4), 3171-3193. [2] Krevor, S. C. M., Pini, R., Zuo, L., & Benson, S. M. (2012). Relative permeability and trapping of CO2 and water in sandstone rocks at reservoir conditions. Water Resources Research, 48(2). |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
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