Reactive transport modeling to study changes in water chemistry induced by CO2 injection at the Frio-I brine pilot

To demonstrate the potential for geologic storage of CO{sub 2} in saline aquifers, the Frio-I Brine Pilot was conducted, during which 1600 tons of CO{sub 2} were injected into a high-permeability sandstone and the resulting subsurface plume of CO{sub 2} was monitored using a variety of hydrogeological, geophysical, and geochemical techniques. Fluid samples were obtained before CO{sub 2} injection for baseline geochemical characterization, during the CO{sub 2} injection to track its breakthrough at a nearby observation well, and after injection to investigate changes in fluid composition and potential leakage into an overlying zone. Following CO{sub 2} breakthrough at the observation well, brine samples showed sharp drops in pH, pronounced increases in HCO{sub 3}{sup -} and aqueous Fe, and significant shifts in the isotopic compositions of H{sub 2}O and dissolved inorganic carbon. Based on a calibrated 1-D radial flow model, reactive transport modeling was performed for the Frio-I Brine Pilot. A simple kinetic model of Fe release from the solid to aqueous phase was developed, which can reproduce the observed increases in aqueous Fe concentration. Brine samples collected after half a year had lower Fe concentrations due to carbonate precipitation, and this trend can be also captured by our modeling. The paper provides a method for estimating potential mobile Fe inventory, and its bounding concentration in the storage formation from limited observation data. Long-term simulations show that the CO{sub 2} plume gradually spreads outward due to capillary forces, and the gas saturation gradually decreases due to its dissolution and precipitation of carbonates. The gas phase is predicted to disappear after 500 years. Elevated aqueous CO{sub 2} concentrations remain for a longer time, but eventually decrease due to carbonate precipitation. For the Frio-I Brine Pilot, all injected CO{sub 2} could ultimately be sequestered as carbonate minerals

A preliminary study of the chemistry of pore water extracted from tuff by one-dimensional compression

A specially designed and fabricated one-dimensional compression cell is being used to extract water from nonwelded and densely welded tuffs having degrees of saturation greater than 16 and 37 percent respectively. Chemical analyses of pore water obtained at increasing pressures are used to evaluate possible changes in chemistry caused by compression. The extracted pore water varies form a calcium chloride type to a sodium bicarbonate type. The mean concentration of dissolved ions generally decreases during compression. The relative abundance of the major cations varies little with increasing pressure. Possible causes of the pore-water-chemistry changes include: (1) dilution of pore water by low ionic strength adsorbed water from zeolites and clays; (2) dissolution reactions caused by the increase in dissolved carbon dioxide concentrations that may result from pressurization; (3) membrane filtration by zeolites and clays; and (4) ion exchange with the zeolites and clays

Gas-Water-Rock Interactions in Saline Aquifers Following CO2 Injection: Results from Frio Formation, Texas, USA

Bureau of Economic Geolog

Modeling Studies on the Transport of Benzene and H2S in CO2-Water Systems

In this study, reactive transport simulations were used to assess the mobilization and transport of organics with supercritical CO{sub 2} (SCC), and the co-injection and transport of H{sub 2}S with SCC. These processes were evaluated at conditions of typical storage reservoirs, and for cases of hypothetical leakage from a reservoir to an overlying shallower fresh water aquifer. Modeling capabilities were developed to allow the simulation of multiphase flow and transport of H{sub 2}O, CO{sub 2}, H{sub 2}S, as well as specific organic compounds (benzene), coupled with multicomponent geochemical reaction and transport. This included the development of a new simulator, TMVOC-REACT, starting from existing modules of the TOUGH2 family of codes. This work also included an extensive literature review, calculation, and testing of phase-partitioning properties for mixtures of the phases considered. The reactive transport simulations presented in this report are primarily intended to illustrate the capabilities of the new simulator. They are also intended to help evaluate and understand various processes at play, in a more qualitative than quantitative manner, and only for hypothetical scenarios. Therefore, model results are not intended as realistic assessments of groundwater quality changes for specific locations, and they certainly do not provide an exhaustive evaluation of all possible site conditions, especially given the large variability and uncertainty in hydrogeologic and geochemical parameter input into simulations. The first step in evaluating the potential mobilization and transport of organics was the identification of compounds likely to be present in deep storage formations, and likely to negatively impact freshwater aquifers if mobilized by SCC. On the basis of a literature review related to the occurrence of these organic compounds, their solubility in water and SCC, and their toxicity (as reflected by their maximum contaminant levels MCL), benzene was selected as a key compound for inclusion into numerical simulations. Note that considering additional organic compounds and/or mixtures of such compounds in the simulations was beyond the scope of this study, because of the effort required to research, calculate, and validate the phase-partitioning data necessary for simulations. The injection of CO{sub 2} into a deep saline aquifer was simulated, followed by modeling the leaching of benzene by SCC and transport of benzene to an overlying aquifer along a hypothetical leakage pathway. One- and two-dimensional models were set up for this purpose. The target storage formation was assumed to initially contain about 10{sup -4} ppm benzene. Model results indicate that: (1) SCC efficiently extracts benzene from the storage formation. (2) Assuming equilibrium, the content of benzene in SCC is roportional to the concentration of benzene in the aqueous and solid phases. (3) Benzene may co-migrate with CO{sub 2} into overlying aquifers if a leakage pathway is present. Because the aqueous solubility of benzene in contact with CO{sub 2} is lower than the aqueous solubility of CO{sub 2}, benzene is actually enriched in the CO{sub 2} phase as the plume advances. (4) For the case studied here, the resulting aqueous benzene concentration in the overlying aquifer is on the same order of magnitude as the initial concentration in the storage formation. This generic modeling study illustrates, in a semi-quantitative manner, the possible mobilization of benzene by SCC. The extent to which the mobilization of this organic compound evolves temporally and spatially depends on a large number of controlling parameters and is largely site specific. Therefore, for more 'truly' predictive work, further sensitivity studies should be conducted, and further modeling should be integrated with site-specific laboratory and/or field experimental data. The co-injection of H{sub 2}S with CO{sub 2} into a deep saline aquifer was also simulated. In addition, the model considered leakage of the supercritical CO{sub 2}+H{sub 2}S mixture along a preferential pathway to an overlying fresh-water aquifer, followed by reaction of the CO{sub 2}+H{sub 2}S mixture with that aquifer. A simple 2-D model that included a storage formation and a sealing aquitard was developed to simulate the movement of H{sub 2}S in a typical CO{sub 2} storage formation. Model results indicate that H{sub 2}S is stripped off at the edge of the advancing supercritical plume, because of the H{sub 2}S preferential solubility in water compared to CO{sub 2}. The magnitude of H{sub 2}S preferential dissolution, however, decreases with decreasing temperature and pressure. To capture this behavior and evaluate the breakthrough of H{sub 2}S through a leakage pathway (from the deep storage formation to a shallower aquifer), another model was constructed, considering a storage formation, an overlying aquifer, and a vertical leakage pathway between them