Reactive Transport Modeling of Injected CO2 in Heterogeneous Porous Media by Means of Numerical Method

A reactive fluid flow and transport numerical model is developed for evaluating long-term sequestration of CO2 in liquid-saturated porous media. Carbon dioxide is injected into a porous media in a super-critical state that partially dissolves in the liquid phase, creating a multi-species liquid phase. A governing equation package is employed to treat the flow and transport simulations. Chemical reactions between dissolved CO2 and rock minerals that potentially contribute to mineral trapping of CO2 are taken into account in the current study. The transport numerical model analyzes the impact of CO2 immobilization on porosity and permeability of the porous media through carbonate precipitation. It is found that the addition of CO2 mass as carbonate precipitates to the solid phase lead to a decrease in porosity and permeability of the porous media. The current numerical simulation provides useful insight into potential sequestration capacity of a porous media, and their controlling conditions such as critical time of blockage.