PNNL

Abstract

Injecting massive amounts of CO2 into deep geologic formations will cause a range of coupled thermal, hydrodynamic, mechanical, and chemical changes. A significant perturbation in water-saturated formations is the pH drop in the reservoir fluids due to CO2 dissolution. Knowing the pH under geological CO2 sequestration conditions is important for a better understanding of the short- and long-term risks associated with geological CO2 sequestration and will help in the design of sustainable sequestration projects. Most previous studies on CO2-rock-brine interactions have utilized thermodynamic modeling to estimate the pH. In this work, a spectrophotometric method was developed to determine the in-situ pH in CO2-H2O-NaCl systems in the presence and absence of reservoir rock by observing the spectra of a pH indicator, bromophenol blue, with a UV-visible spectrophotometer. Effects of temperature, pressure, and ionic strength on the pH measurement were evaluated. Measured pH values in CO2-H2O-NaCl systems were compared with several thermodynamic models. Results indicate that bromophenol blue can be used to accurately determine the pH of brine in contact with supercritical CO2 under geologic CO2 sequestration conditions.