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Residual CO 2 imaged with X‐ray micro‐tomography
Author(s) -
Iglauer Stefan,
Paluszny Adriana,
Pentland Christopher H.,
Blunt Martin J.
Publication year - 2011
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 - 10.1029/2011gl049680
Subject(s) - trapping , characterisation of pore space in soil , cluster (spacecraft) , materials science , aquifer , carbon capture and storage (timeline) , tomography , carbon fibers , residual , capillary action , atmosphere (unit) , quartz , mineralogy , chemical physics , environmental science , geology , groundwater , chemistry , optics , physics , porosity , composite material , meteorology , geotechnical engineering , algorithm , computer science , ecology , oceanography , climate change , composite number , biology , programming language
Carbon capture and storage (CCS), where CO 2 is injected into geological formations, has been identified as an important way to reduce CO 2 emissions to the atmosphere. While there are several aquifers worldwide into which CO 2 has been injected, there is still uncertainty in terms of the long‐term fate of the CO 2 . Simulation studies have proposed capillary trapping – where the CO 2 is stranded as pore‐space droplets surrounded by water – as a rapid way to secure safe storage. However, there has been no direct evidence of pore‐scale trapping. We imaged trapped super‐critical CO 2 clusters in a sandstone at elevated temperatures and pressures, representative of storage conditions using computed micro‐tomography ( μ ‐CT) and measured the distribution of trapped cluster size. The clusters occupy 25% of the pore space. This work suggests that locally capillary trapping is an effective, safe storage mechanism in quartz‐rich sandstones.