TOUGHREACT Simulation Studies for Mineral Trapping Following CO₂ Disposal in Deep Saline Aquifers

Tianfu Xu, John A. Apps, and Karsten Pruess

Contact: Tianfu Xu, 510/486-7057, Tianfu_Xu@lbl.gov

Research Objectives

A reactive fluid flow and geochemical transport numerical model TOUGHREACT has been developed for evaluating long-term CO₂ disposal in deep geologic formations. The model is needed because alteration of the aluminosilicate minerals in the predominant host rock is very slow and not amenable to laboratory experiment under ambient deep-formation conditions. Using this model, we performed: (1) batch geochemical modeling analysis with three rock types (glauconitic sandstone from the Canada Alberta Sedimentary Basin, a sediment from the United States Gulf Coast, and a dunite), (2) reactive transport simulations of a 1-D radial-well region under CO₂ injection conditions to analyze CO₂ immobilization through carbonate precipitation in Gulf Coast sandstone of the Frio formation (Texas), (3) and reactive transport simulations of CO₂ sequestration in bedded sandstone-shale sequences.

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