Geological Society of America

295 Recent Advances in Environmental Geoscience II

Wednesday, 28 September 2016
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Room 302

DISSOLUTION OF MINERAL CARBONATES WITH INCREASING CO2 PRESSURE AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR CARBON SEQUESTRATION LEAK DETECTION

Paper number: 295-2
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 1:45 PM – 2:00 PM

Authors

Christian L. Goueguel
National Energy Technology Laboratory, Pittsburgh, PA
Jinesh C. Jain Presenting Author
National Energy Technology Laboratory, Pittsburgh, PA
Dustin L. McIntyre
National Energy Technology Laboratory, Morgantown, WV
Harry M. Edenborn
National Energy Technology Lab; U.S. Department of Energy, Pittsburgh, PA

Abstract

Carbonate minerals are wide spread components of geological formations associated with the storage of carbon dioxide. The stability of these minerals may be affected due to leaking CO₂and the resulting precipitation/dissolution reactions could lead to a certain geochemical transformations. Although geochemical modeling predicts the pH-dependent stability of these minerals, in situ experiments are needed to support the model predictions. In this study, we applied underwater laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for measuring in situ dissolution of various mineral carbonates (MgCO₃, CaCO₃, SrCO₃, and MnCO₃) in the presence of increasing CO₂ pressure ranging from 25-350 bar. A pulsed Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm was used to produce gaseous plasma in the fluid surrounding pressed pellet of the carbonate powders. The ensuing plasma emission was spectrally analyzed, and the intensity of the Mg, Ca, Sr, and Mn emission lines were used to monitor their respective divalent cations (Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺ , Sr²⁺, and Mn²⁺) released to the aqueous solution.

The results suggest that carbonate dissolution may provide a useful indirect detection system indicative of CO₂

leakage from some storage sites.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 48, No. 7

doi: 10.1130/abs/2016AM-285141

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