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Rapid porosity and permeability changes of calcareous sandstone due to CO 2 ‐enriched brine injection
Author(s) -
LamyChappuis Benoit,
Angus Doug,
Fisher Quentin,
Grattoni Carlos,
Yardley Bruce W. D.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2013gl058534
Subject(s) - calcite , petrophysics , porosity , permeability (electromagnetism) , dissolution , geology , brine , petroleum engineering , petroleum reservoir , mineralogy , saturation (graph theory) , soil science , geotechnical engineering , chemical engineering , chemistry , biochemistry , mathematics , organic chemistry , combinatorics , membrane , engineering
Reservoir injectivity and storage capacity are the main constraints for geologic CO 2 sequestration, subject to safety and economic considerations. Brine acidification following CO 2 dissolution leads to fluid‐rock interactions that alter porosity and permeability, thereby affecting reservoir storage capacity and injectivity. Thus, we determined how efficiently CO 2 ‐enriched brines could dissolve calcite in sandstone cores and how this affects the petrophysical properties. During computerized tomography monitored flow‐through reactor experiments, calcite dissolved at a rate largely determined by the rate of acid supply, even at high flow velocities which would be typical near an injection well. The porosity increase was accompanied by a significant increase in rock permeability, larger than that predicted using classical porosity‐permeability models. This chemically driven petrophysical change might be optimized using injection parameters to maximize injectivity and storage.