A Pore-Scale Phase Field Model for CO2-Fluid-Basalt Interactions.

ABSTRACT

Basalt is a suitable target area for CO2 storage. Clarifying the evolution of the pore structure during CO2-fluid-basalt interactions is a crucial element in the preparation of a CO2 geologic storage operation. In this study, a pore-scale phase field model is proposed to simulate the CO2-fluid-basalt interaction process of Snake River Plain basalt. Our model is suitable for complex multimineral natural rocks, and the initial mineral distribution before the reaction can be completely based on a real 3D rock image without the need to simplify the mineral geometry. The simulation results demonstrate that after 120 days of dissolution-precipitation reaction, the volume of secondary minerals (3.75%) exceeds that of dissolved minerals (2.01%), leading to a reduction in porosity by 1.74%. The pore structure of the basalt changes significantly, and the connectivity is obviously reduced. The effects of temperature and pressure on the reaction rate were examined to guide site selection for CO2 sequestration. The results show that increasing temperature and pressure can accelerate the reaction rate, but the impact of pressure on the reaction rate is negligible compared to the significant influence of temperature. Therefore, an area with a high geothermal gradient is conducive to geological sequestration.