Calcite-functionalized micromodels for pore-scale investigations of CO₂ storage security

¹ Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, Norway
² SINTEF Industry, Norway
³ Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, USA

^* Corresponding author: malin.haugen@uib.no

Abstract

Carbon capture and subsequent storage (CCS) is identified as a necessity to achieve climate commitments. Permanent storage of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in subsurface saline aquifers or depleted oil and gas reservoirs is feasible, but large-scale implementation of such storage has so far been slow. Although sandstone formations are currently most viable for CO₂ sequestration, carbonates play an important role in widespread implementation of CCS; both due to the world-wide abundancy of saline aquifers in carbonate formations, and as candidates for CO₂-EOR with combined storage. Acidification of formation brine during CO₂ injection cause carbonate dissolution and development of reactive flow patterns. Using calcite-functionalization of micromodels we experimentally investigate fundamental pore-scale reactive transport dynamics relevant for carbonate CO₂ storage security. Calcite-functionalized, two-dimensional and siliconbased, pore scale micromodels were used. Calcite precipitation was microbially induced from the bacteria Sporosarcina pasteurii and calcite grains were formed in-situ. This paper details an improved procedure for achieving controlled calcite precipitation in the pore space and characterizes the precipitation/mineralization process. The experimental setup featured a temperature-controlled micromodel holder attached to an automatic scanning stage. A high-resolution microscope enabled full-model (22x27 mm) image capture at resolution of 1.1 µm/pixel within 82 seconds. An in-house developed image-analysis python script was used to quantify porosity alterations due to calcite precipitation. The calcite-functionalized micromodels were found to replicate natural carbonate pore geometry and chemistry, and thus may be used to quantify calcite dissolution and reactive flow at the pore-scale.