Speaker
Description
The dynamic behavior of nucleation and precipitation of minerals in porous media during underground fluid injection has significant impact on many engineering applications such as shale gas extraction and CO₂ sequestration. Traditional large-scale models usually overlook the role that mineral nucleation plays in this reactive flow process by assuming precipitation occurs once the solution is supersaturated. Our study developed a novel numerical solver, which couples the homogeneous/heterogeneous nucleation of minerals and the flow of reactive crystal particles at the pore-scale. By simulating the reactive flow in microchannels and porous media, it was found that the homogeneous nucleation behavior of minerals is governed by both the fluid flow conditions and the porous media structure. The results indicate that an optimal Péclet number range exists which maximizes the homogeneous nucleation rate and the final amount of nuclei. In addition, the homogeneous nucleation is also affected by the porosity of porous matrix, an increase in porosity enhances the number of nuclei, especially under advection-dominated conditions. Furthermore, we have discovered that, in advection-dominated regimes, high tortuosity of pore structure promotes homogeneous nucleation by enhancing local mixing through flow disturbance. This model provides a novel framework for the precise regulation of mineral homogeneous nucleation and precipitation, offering critical insights for the optimization of related geological engineering processes.
| Country | China |
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