Neutralizing Carbonic Acid in Deep Carbonate Strata below the North Atlantic Annual Technical Report: 2005 (open access)

Neutralizing Carbonic Acid in Deep Carbonate Strata below the North Atlantic Annual Technical Report: 2005

Our research is aimed at investigating several technical issues associated with carbon dioxide sequestration in calcium carbonate sediments below the sea floor through laboratory experiments and chemical transport modeling. Our goal is to evaluate the basic feasibility of this approach, including an assessment of optimal depths, sediment types, and other issues related to site selection. Through laboratory and modeling efforts, we are studying the flow of liquid carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide-water mixtures through calcium carbonate sediments to better understand the geomechanical and structural stability of the sediments during and after injection. Our modeling efforts in the first year show that the idea is feasible, but requires more sophisticated analysis of fluid flow at high pressure in deep sea sediments. In addition, we are investigating the kinetics of calcium carbonate dissolution in the presence of CO{sub 2}-water fluids, which is a critical feature of the system as it allows for increased permeability during injection. Our experimental results from the first year of work have shown that the kinetics are likely to be fast enough to create dissolution which will affect permeability. However, additional experiments are needed at high pressures, which will be a focus for years 2 and 3. We …
Date: December 1, 2005
Creator: Schrag, Daniel P.
System: The UNT Digital Library