CO2 sequestration in basaltic rocks in Iceland: Development of a piston-type downhole sampler for CO2 rich fluids and tracers

The reduction of atmospheric CO2 is one of the challenges that scientists face today. University of Iceland, Reykjavik Energy, CNRS in Toulouse and Columbia University have started a cooperative project called CarbFix (www.carbfix.com) aiming at CO2 mineral sequestration into basalts at Hellisheidi, SW Iceland. Gaseous CO2 will be injected into a borehole where it will be carbonated with Icelandic groundwater. The CO2 charged injection fluid will be released into the target aquifer at ca. 500 m depth at about 35°C and 40 bar. The aim is to permanently bind CO2 into carbonates upon water-rock interaction. In order to evaluate the hydro-geochemical patterns and proportions of CO2 mineralization in the aquifer, full scale monitoring is needed. This will involve monitoring of conservative and gas tracers injected with the carbonated fluid, isotope ratios and major and trace elemental chemistry. A crucial issue of the monitoring is the quality of the sampling at depth and under pressure. Commonly, gas bubbles are observed when using commercial downhole samplers (bailers) and in order to avoid this problem, a piston-type downhole bailer was designed, constructed and tested as part of the project

Monitoring permanent CO2 storage by in situ mineral carbonation using a reactive tracer technique

AbstractIn situ mineral carbonation provides the most effective and permanent solution for geologic CO2 storage. Basaltic rocks have the potential to store large volumes of CO2 as (Ca, Mg, Fe) carbonates [1]. Existing monitoring and verification techniques for geologic CO2 storage are insufficient to quantitatively characterize solubility and mineral trapping in a geologic reservoir. We developed and tested a new reactive tracer technique for quantitative monitoring and detection of dissolved and chemically transformed CO2. The technique involves the active tagging of the injected CO2 with low levels of radiocarbon (14C) as a reactive tracer in combination with the injection of non-reactive tracers such as sulfurhexafluoride (SF6) and trifluoromethylsulphur pentafluoride (SF5CF3). The tracer technique has been applied at the CarbFix pilot injection site in Hellisheidi, Iceland as part of a comprehensive geochemical monitoring program during two injection phases; Phase III and IV. SF6 and SF5CF3 confirm the arrival of the injected CO2 and CO2+H2S solutions at the first observation well HN04, which is 125m west of the injection well at 520 m depth. The initial breakthrough of the migrating dissolved CO2 front occurred 63 and 62 days after injection began as evidenced by an initial peak in the SF6, SF5CF3, 14C, and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) concentrations. The major increase in the non-reactive tracer concentrations occurred several months after the initial breakthrough, although no major concentration increase has been observed for 14C and DIC suggesting that mineral reactions are dominant during CO2 injection

Rapid solubility and mineral storage of CO2 in basalt

The long-term security of geologic carbon storage is critical to its success and public acceptance. Much of the security risk associated with geological carbon storage stems from its buoyancy. Gaseous and supercritical CO2 are less dense than formation waters, providing a driving force for it to escape back to the surface. This buoyancy can be eliminated by the dissolution of CO2 into water prior to, or during its injection into the subsurface. The dissolution makes it possible to inject into fractured rocks and further enhance mineral storage of CO2 especially if injected into silicate rocks rich in divalent metal cations such as basalts and ultra-mafic rocks. We have demonstrated the dissolution of CO2 into water during its injection into basalt leading to its geologic solubility storage in less than five minutes and potential geologic mineral storage within few years after injection [1–3]. The storage potential of CO2 within basaltic rocks is enormous. All the carbon released from burning of all fossil fuel on Earth, 5000 GtC, can theoretically be stored in basaltic rocks [4]

The CarbFix Pilot Project - storing carbon dioxide in basalt

In situ mineral carbonation is facilitated by aqueous-phase chemical reactions with dissolved CO2. Evidence from the laboratory and the field shows that the limiting factors for in situ mineral carbonation are the dissolution rate of CO2 into the aqueous phase and the release rate of divalent cations from basic silicate minerals. Up to now, pilot CO2 storage projects and commercial operations have focused on the injection and storage of anthropogenic CO2 as a supercritical phase in depleted oil and gas reservoirs or deep saline aquifers with limited potential for CO2 mineralization. The CarbFix Pilot Project will test the feasibility of in situ mineral carbonation in basaltic rocks as a way to permanently and safely store CO2. The test includes the capture of CO2 flue gas from the Hellisheidi geothermal power plant and the injection of 2200 tons of CO2 per year, fully dissolved in water, at the CarbFix pilot injection site in SW Iceland. This paper describes the design of the CO2 injection test and the novel approach for monitoring and verification of CO2 mineralization in the subsurface by tagging the injected CO2 with radiocarbon (14C), and using SF5CF3 and amidorhodamine G as conservative tracers to monitor the transport of the injected CO2 charged water

Genome-wide association study identifies eight risk loci and implicates metabo-psychiatric origins for anorexia nervosa

Characterized primarily by a low body-mass index, anorexia nervosa is a complex and serious illness1, affecting 0.9–4% of women and 0.3% of men2–4, with twin-based heritability estimates of 50–60%5. Mortality rates are higher than those in other psychiatric disorders6, and outcomes are unacceptably poor7. Here we combine data from the Anorexia Nervosa Genetics Initiative (ANGI)8,9 and the Eating Disorders Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC-ED) and conduct a genome-wide association study of 16,992 cases of anorexia nervosa and 55,525 controls, identifying eight significant loci. The genetic architecture of anorexia nervosa mirrors its clinical presentation, showing significant genetic correlations with psychiatric disorders, physical activity, and metabolic (including glycemic), lipid and anthropometric traits, independent of the effects of common variants associated with body-mass index. These results further encourage a reconceptualization of anorexia nervosa as a metabo-psychiatric disorder. Elucidating the metabolic component is a critical direction for future research, and paying attention to both psychiatric and metabolic components may be key to improving outcomes

Genome-wide association study identifies eight risk loci and implicates metabo-psychiatric origins for anorexia nervosa

Characterized primarily by a low body-mass index, anorexia nervosa is a complex and serious illness1, affecting 0.9–4% of women and 0.3% of men2–4, with twin-based heritability estimates of 50–60%5. Mortality rates are higher than those in other psychiatric disorders6, and outcomes are unacceptably poor7. Here we combine data from the Anorexia Nervosa Genetics Initiative (ANGI)8,9 and the Eating Disorders Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC-ED) and conduct a genome-wide association study of 16,992 cases of anorexia nervosa and 55,525 controls, identifying eight significant loci. The genetic architecture of anorexia nervosa mirrors its clinical presentation, showing significant genetic correlations with psychiatric disorders, physical activity, and metabolic (including glycemic), lipid and anthropometric traits, independent of the effects of common variants associated with body-mass index. These results further encourage a reconceptualization of anorexia nervosa as a metabo-psychiatric disorder. Elucidating the metabolic component is a critical direction for future research, and paying attention to both psychiatric and metabolic components may be key to improving outcomes

Shared genetic risk between eating disorder- and substance-use-related phenotypes: Evidence from genome-wide association studies

Eating disorders and substance use disorders frequently co-occur. Twin studies reveal shared genetic variance between liabilities to eating disorders and substance use, with the strongest associations between symptoms of bulimia nervosa and problem alcohol use (genetic correlation [rg], twin-based = 0.23-0.53). We estimated the genetic correlation between eating disorder and substance use and disorder phenotypes using data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Four eating disorder phenotypes (anorexia nervosa [AN], AN with binge eating, AN without binge eating, and a bulimia nervosa factor score), and eight substance-use-related phenotypes (drinks per week, alcohol use disorder [AUD], smoking initiation, current smoking, cigarettes per day, nicotine dependence, cannabis initiation, and cannabis use disorder) from eight studies were included. Significant genetic correlations were adjusted for variants associated with major depressive disorder and schizophrenia. Total study sample sizes per phenotype ranged from ~2400 to ~537 000 individuals. We used linkage disequilibrium score regression to calculate single nucleotide polymorphism-based genetic correlations between eating disorder- and substance-use-related phenotypes. Significant positive genetic associations emerged between AUD and AN (rg = 0.18; false discovery rate q = 0.0006), cannabis initiation and AN (rg = 0.23; q < 0.0001), and cannabis initiation and AN with binge eating (rg = 0.27; q = 0.0016). Conversely, significant negative genetic correlations were observed between three nondiagnostic smoking phenotypes (smoking initiation, current smoking, and cigarettes per day) and AN without binge eating (rgs = −0.19 to −0.23; qs < 0.04). The genetic correlation between AUD and AN was no longer significant after co-varying for major depressive disorder loci. The patterns of association between eating disorder- and substance-use-related phenotypes highlights the potentially complex and substance-specific relationships among these behaviors. © 2020 Society for the Study of Addictio

Genome-wide association study identifies eight risk loci and implicates metabo-psychiatric origins for anorexia nervosa

Characterized primarily by a low body-mass index, anorexia nervosa is a complex and serious illness1, affecting 0.9–4% of women and 0.3% of men2–4, with twin-based heritability estimates of 50–60%5. Mortality rates are higher than those in other psychiatric disorders6, and outcomes are unacceptably poor7. Here we combine data from the Anorexia Nervosa Genetics Initiative (ANGI)8,9 and the Eating Disorders Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC-ED) and conduct a genome-wide association study of 16,992 cases of anorexia nervosa and 55,525 controls, identifying eight significant loci. The genetic architecture of anorexia nervosa mirrors its clinical presentation, showing significant genetic correlations with psychiatric disorders, physical activity, and metabolic (including glycemic), lipid and anthropometric traits, independent of the effects of common variants associated with body-mass index. These results further encourage a reconceptualization of anorexia nervosa as a metabo-psychiatric disorder. Elucidating the metabolic component is a critical direction for future research, and paying attention to both psychiatric and metabolic components may be key to improving outcomes. © 2019, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc