Synergistic Coupling of CO2 and H2O during Expansion of Clays in Supercritical CO2-CH4 Fluid Mixtures

We used IR and XRD, with supporting theoretical calculations, to investigate the swelling behavior of Na+-, NH4+-, and Cs+-montmorillonites (SWy-2) in supercritical fluid mixtures of H2O, CO2, and CH4. Building on our prior work with Na-clay that demonstrated that H2O facilitated CO2 intercalation at relatively low RH, here we show that increasing CO2 /CH4 ratios promote H2O intercalation and swelling of the Na-clay at progressively lower RH. In contrast to the Na-clay, CO2 intercalated and expanded the Cs-clay even in the absence of H2O, while increasing fluid CO2/CH4 ratios inhibited H2O intercalation. The NH4-clay displayed intermediate behavior. By comparing changes in the HOH bending vibration of H2O intercalated in the Cs-, NH4-, and Na-clays, we posit that CO2 facilitated expansion of the Na-clay by participating in outer-sphere solvation of Na+ and by disrupting the H-bond network of intercalated H2O. In no case did the pure CH4 fluid induce expansion. Our experimental data can benchmark modeling studies aimed at predicting clay expansion in humidified fluids with varying ratios of CO2 and CH4 in real reservoir systems with implications for enhanced hydrocarbon recovery and CO2 storage in subsurface environments.

Automated summary

The study found that under different CO2/CH4 ratios, different montmorillonites exhibit different swelling behaviors. CO2 facilitates the expansion of Na-clay, while CH4 cannot induce expansion. For Cs-clay, even in the absence of H2O, CO2 can cause expansion.