How does surface wettability alter salt precipitation and growth dynamics during CO$_2$ injection into saline aquifers: A microfluidic analysis
Fuente:
arXiv
Gespeichert in:
| Hauptverfasser: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Veröffentlicht: |
2024
|
| Schlagworte: | |
| Online-Zugang: | |
| Tags: |
Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
|
| _version_ | 1866913535523553280 |
|---|---|
| author | Dąbrowski, Karol M. Nooraiepour, Mohammad Masoudi, Mohammad Zając, Michał Kuczyński, Szymon Smulski, Rafał Barbacki, Jan Hellevang, Helge Nagy, Stanisław |
| author_facet | Dąbrowski, Karol M. Nooraiepour, Mohammad Masoudi, Mohammad Zając, Michał Kuczyński, Szymon Smulski, Rafał Barbacki, Jan Hellevang, Helge Nagy, Stanisław |
| contents | Salt precipitation triggered by the evaporation of formation brine into injected supercritical CO2 can cause injectivity and containment issues in near-wellbore regions. Predicting the distribution of precipitated salts and their impact on near-wellbore properties remains challenging. This study investigates the influence of surface wettability on CO2-induced halite precipitation and growth within hydrophilic and hydrophobic microfluidic chips designed to mimic rock-structure porous geometries. A series of high-pressure brine-CO2 flow experiments, direct microscopic observations, and detailed image processing were conducted to explore how substrate wettability affects salt precipitation. The experiments show that wettability markedly controls residual brine relocation, film flow movement, solute consumption, and salt formation. Tracking halite precipitation dynamics revealed distinct crystal formation signatures: hydrophilic chips exhibited irregular, larger aggregation patches, while the hydrophobic network showed more numerous, smaller, and limited aggregations. Large individual crystals were observed in both chips, with a notable dominance in the hydrophobic one. Crystallization dynamics varied, with nucleation and growth occurring earlier, progressing faster, and forming bulkier aggregates in the hydrophilic chip. Despite these differences, the three identified temporal stages of brine evaporation and halite surface coverage were comparable. Spatial analysis along the chips indicated that crystal aggregation properties, such as size and distribution, were position-dependent, with hydrophilic chips exhibiting greater probabilistic variability. These observations underscore the impact of surface wettability on salt precipitation through brine accessibility and capillarity, with implications for mitigating and remediating salt issues in saline aquifers. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_04910 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | How does surface wettability alter salt precipitation and growth dynamics during CO$_2$ injection into saline aquifers: A microfluidic analysis Dąbrowski, Karol M. Nooraiepour, Mohammad Masoudi, Mohammad Zając, Michał Kuczyński, Szymon Smulski, Rafał Barbacki, Jan Hellevang, Helge Nagy, Stanisław Geophysics Salt precipitation triggered by the evaporation of formation brine into injected supercritical CO2 can cause injectivity and containment issues in near-wellbore regions. Predicting the distribution of precipitated salts and their impact on near-wellbore properties remains challenging. This study investigates the influence of surface wettability on CO2-induced halite precipitation and growth within hydrophilic and hydrophobic microfluidic chips designed to mimic rock-structure porous geometries. A series of high-pressure brine-CO2 flow experiments, direct microscopic observations, and detailed image processing were conducted to explore how substrate wettability affects salt precipitation. The experiments show that wettability markedly controls residual brine relocation, film flow movement, solute consumption, and salt formation. Tracking halite precipitation dynamics revealed distinct crystal formation signatures: hydrophilic chips exhibited irregular, larger aggregation patches, while the hydrophobic network showed more numerous, smaller, and limited aggregations. Large individual crystals were observed in both chips, with a notable dominance in the hydrophobic one. Crystallization dynamics varied, with nucleation and growth occurring earlier, progressing faster, and forming bulkier aggregates in the hydrophilic chip. Despite these differences, the three identified temporal stages of brine evaporation and halite surface coverage were comparable. Spatial analysis along the chips indicated that crystal aggregation properties, such as size and distribution, were position-dependent, with hydrophilic chips exhibiting greater probabilistic variability. These observations underscore the impact of surface wettability on salt precipitation through brine accessibility and capillarity, with implications for mitigating and remediating salt issues in saline aquifers. |
| title | How does surface wettability alter salt precipitation and growth dynamics during CO$_2$ injection into saline aquifers: A microfluidic analysis |
| topic | Geophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.04910 |