CO 2-rock-brine interactions in Lower Tuscaloosa Formation at Cranfield CO 2 sequestration site, Mississippi, U.S.A.

Jiemin Lu, Yousif K. Kharaka, James J. Thordsen, Juske Horita, Athanasios Karamalidis, Craig Griffith, J. Alexandra Hakala, Gil Ambats, David R. Cole, Tommy J. Phelps, Michael A. Manning, Paul J. Cook, Susan D. Hovorka

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

166 Scopus citations

Abstract

A highly integrated geochemical program was conducted at the Cranfield CO 2-enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and sequestration site, Mississippi, U.S.A.. The program included extensive field geochemical monitoring, a detailed petrographic study, and an autoclave experiment under in situ reservoir conditions. Results show that mineral reactions in the Lower Tuscaloosa reservoir were minor during CO 2 injection. Brine chemistry remained largely unchanged, which contrasts with significant changes observed in other field tests. Field fluid sampling and laboratory experiments show consistently slow reactions. Carbon isotopic composition and CO 2 content in the gas phase reveal simple two-end-member mixing between injected and original formation gas. We conclude that the reservoir rock, which is composed mainly of minerals with low reactivity (average quartz 79.4%, chlorite 11.8%, kaolinite 3.1%, illite 1.3%, concretionary calcite and dolomite 1.5%, and feldspar 0.2%), is relatively unreactive to CO 2. The significance of low reactivity is both positive, in that the reservoir is not impacted, and negative, in that mineral trapping is insignificant.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)269-277
Number of pages9
JournalChemical Geology
Volume291
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 6 2012

Keywords

  • Autoclave experiment
  • Brine chemistry
  • CO storage
  • Carbon isotopes
  • Rock-water-CO reaction
  • Tuscaloosa Formation

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