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Homogenization of Dissolution and Enhanced Precipitation Induced by Bubbles in Multiphase Flow Systems
Author(s) -
JiménezMartínez Joaquín,
Hyman Jeffrey D.,
Chen Yu,
Carey J. William,
Porter Mark L.,
Kang Qinjun,
Guthrie George,
Viswanathan Hari S.
Publication year - 2020
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 - 10.1029/2020gl087163
Subject(s) - dissolution , supercritical fluid , multiphase flow , homogenization (climate) , carbonate , brine , precipitation , permeability (electromagnetism) , geology , enhanced oil recovery , materials science , chemical engineering , mineralogy , petroleum engineering , thermodynamics , chemistry , meteorology , metallurgy , biodiversity , ecology , biochemistry , physics , membrane , biology , engineering
Multiphase flow is ubiquitous in subsurface energy applications and natural processes, such as oil recovery, CO 2 sequestration, and water flow in soils. Despite its importance, we still lack a thorough understanding of the coupling of multiphase flow and reaction of transported fluids with the confining media, including rock dissolution and mineral precipitation. Through the use of geomaterial microfluidic flow experiments and high‐performance computer simulations, we identify key pore‐scale mechanisms that control this coupling. We compare the reactivity of fractured limestone with CO 2 ‐saturated brine (single phase) and a mixture of supercritical (sc) CO 2 and CO 2 ‐saturated brine (multiphase). We find that the presence of scCO 2 bubbles significantly changes both the flow dynamics and the resulting reaction patterns from a single‐phase system, spatially homogenizing the rock dissolution. In addition, bubbles redirect oversaturated fluid into low‐velocity regions, thereby enhancing carbonate precipitation occurs.