Effect of reactive surface area of minerals on mineralization trapping of CO2 in saline aquifers

The reactive surface area, an important parameter controlling mineral reactions, affects the amount of mineralization trapping of CO2 which affects the long-term CO2 storage. The effect of the reactive surface area on the mineralization trapping of CO2 was numerically simulated for CO2 storage in saline aquifers. Three kinds of minerals, including anorthite, calcite and kaolinite, are involved in the mineral reactions. This paper models the relationship between the specific surface area and the grain diameter of anorthite based on experimental data from literature (Brantley and Mellott, 2000). When the reactive surface areas of anorthite and calcite decrease from 838 to 83.8 m(2)/m(3), the percentage of mineralization trapping of CO2 after 500 years decreases from 11.8% to 0.65%. The amount of dissolved anorthite and the amounts of precipitated kaolinite and calcite decrease significantly when the reactive surface areas of anorthite and calcite decrease from 838 to 83.8 m(2)/m(3). Calcite is initially dissolved in the brine and then precipitates during the geochemical reactions between CO2-H2O and the minerals. Different reactive surface areas of anorthite and calcite lead to different times from dissolution to precipitation. The pH of the brine decreases with decreasing reactive surface areas of anorthite and calcite which influences the acidity of the saline aquifer. The gas saturation between the upper and lower parts of the saline aquifer increases with decreasing reactive surface areas of anorthite and calcite. The mass density distribution of brine solution shows that the CO2+brine solution region increases with decreasing reactive surface areas of anorthite and calcite.