PNNL

Abstract

Geologic sequestration is currently being practiced and scientifically evaluated as a critical component in a broad strategy, comprising new practices and technologies, for mitigating global climate change due to anthropogenic emissions of CO2. Demonstrating that geologic sequestration of CO2 is safe and effective, and gaining public acceptance of sequestration technologies are critically important in meeting these global climate change challenges. Monitored field-scale demonstrations of geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide will contribute greatly toward growing trust and confidence in the technology; however, pilot demonstrations ultimately will not be the norm for new geological sequestration deployments. Instead, scientists, engineers, regulators, and ultimately the public will rely on numerical simulations to predict the performance of geologic repositories for carbon dioxide sequestration. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), through the National Environmental Technology Laboratory (NETL) has requested the development of numerical simulation capabilities for quantifying the permanent storage capacity, leakage rates, and public risks associated with geologic sequestration of CO2. In conjunction with this request. the Zero Emissions Research and Technology Center (ZERT) has been created with the mission of conducting basic and applied research that support the development of new technologies for minimizing emissions of anthropogenic carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that impact global climate change. As a member of the ZERT Center, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is conducting research associated with geologic sequestration of CO2 that includes the thermochemistry of supercritical CO2-brine mixtures, mineralization kinetics, leakage and microseepage of CO2, and new materials for CO2 capture. In addition to these research activities, PNNL is developing new scalable CO2 reservoir simulation capabilities for its multifluid subsurface flow and transport simulator, STOMP (Subsurface Transport Over Multiple Phases). Prior to these code development activities, the STOMP simulator included sequential and scalable implementations for numerically simulating the injection of supercritical CO2 into deep saline aquifers. Additionally, the sequential implementations included operational modes that considered nonisothermal conditions and kinetic dissolution of CO2 into the saline aqueous phase. This addendum documents the advancement of these numerical simulation capabilities to include reactive transport in the STOMP simulator through the inclusion of the recently PNNL developed batch geochemistry solution module ECKEChem (Equilibrium-Conservation-Kinetic Equation Chemistry). Potential geologic reservoirs for sequestering CO2 include deep saline aquifers, hydrate-bearing formations, depleted or partially depleted natural gas and petroleum reservoirs, and coal beds. The mechanisms for sequestering carbon dioxide in geologic reservoirs include physical trapping, dissolution in the reservoir fluids, hydraulic trapping (hysteretic entrapment of nonwetting fluids), and chemical reaction. This document and the associated code development and verification work are concerned with the chemistry of injecting CO2 into geologic reservoirs. As geologic sequestration of CO2 via chemical reaction, namely precipitation reactions, are most dominate in deep saline aquifers, the principal focus of this document is the numerical simulation of CO2 injection, migration, and geochemical reaction in deep saline aquifers. The ECKEChem batch chemistry module was developed in a fashion that would allow its implementation into all operational modes of the STOMP simulator, making it a more versatile chemistry component. Additionally, this approach allows for verification of the ECKEChem module against more classical reactive transport problems involving aqueous systems.