Microstructural changes of sandstone specimens during CO2 injection

Abstract:

Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) is a technology to isolate CO2 from atmosphere, by capturing it from sources, transporting it to injection area, and injecting it into suitable geological formation, ocean, or mineral carbonation plant. Geological storage of carbon dioxide is the most effective and economical method, and until now a lot of demonstration projects were carried out successfully such as Sleipner, Weyburn, and In Salah. In Republic of Korea, small-scale CO2 injection demonstration project is now under investigation in offshore Pohang Basin with sandstone reservoir and the mudstone caprock. When CO2 is injected in target site, the rock around injection well can be deteriorated because of extreme change of temperature and pressure. In this study supercritical CO2 was injected in sandstone specimen and the initiation and propagation of fracture inside the specimens were observed using X-ray computed tomography (CT). X-ray CT method is a computer technology to observe inner density of target object in three dimensional image. Because of its non-destructivity and high resolution, it is suitable for consistent observation of the same specimen. Porosity and permeability of the specimens were measured using X-ray CT images and both of them were increased after injection. P- and S-wave velocity were also measured to assess the change of mechanical property and both of them were decreased after injection because of growth of inner fractures. The data from this research can be used as input data of CCS site.