CO2 wettability of seal and reservoir rocks and the implications for carbon geo-sequestration

We review the literature data published on the topic of CO2 wettability of storage and seal rocks. We first introduce the concept of wettability and explain why it is important in the context of carbon geo-sequestration (CGS) projects, and review how it is measured. This is done to raise awareness o...

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Main Authors: Iglauer, Stefan, Pentland, C., Busch, A.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc. 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/20032
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author Iglauer, Stefan
Pentland, C.
Busch, A.
author_facet Iglauer, Stefan
Pentland, C.
Busch, A.
author_sort Iglauer, Stefan
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description We review the literature data published on the topic of CO2 wettability of storage and seal rocks. We first introduce the concept of wettability and explain why it is important in the context of carbon geo-sequestration (CGS) projects, and review how it is measured. This is done to raise awareness of this parameter in the CGS community, which, as we show later on in this text, may have a dramatic impact on structural and residual trapping of CO2. These two trapping mechanisms would be severely and negatively affected in case of CO2-wet storage and/or seal rock. Overall, at the current state of the art, a substantial amount of work has been completed, and we find that: 1. Sandstone and limestone, plus pure minerals such as quartz, calcite, feldspar, and mica are strongly water wet in a CO2-water system. 2. Oil-wet limestone, oil-wet quartz, or coal is intermediate wet or CO2 wet in a CO2-water system. 3. The contact angle alone is insufficient for predicting capillary pressures in reservoir or seal rocks. 4. The current contact angle data have a large uncertainty. 5. Solid theoretical understanding on a molecular level of rock-CO2-brine interactions is currently limited. 6. In an ideal scenario, all seal and storage rocks in CGS formations are tested for their CO2 wettability. 7. Achieving representative subsurface conditions (especially in terms of the rock surface) in the laboratory is of key importance but also very challenging.
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format Journal Article
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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last_indexed 2025-11-14T07:32:59Z
publishDate 2015
publisher Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-200322021-11-30T07:49:40Z CO2 wettability of seal and reservoir rocks and the implications for carbon geo-sequestration Iglauer, Stefan Pentland, C. Busch, A. CO2-wettability residual trapping structural trapping carbon storage We review the literature data published on the topic of CO2 wettability of storage and seal rocks. We first introduce the concept of wettability and explain why it is important in the context of carbon geo-sequestration (CGS) projects, and review how it is measured. This is done to raise awareness of this parameter in the CGS community, which, as we show later on in this text, may have a dramatic impact on structural and residual trapping of CO2. These two trapping mechanisms would be severely and negatively affected in case of CO2-wet storage and/or seal rock. Overall, at the current state of the art, a substantial amount of work has been completed, and we find that: 1. Sandstone and limestone, plus pure minerals such as quartz, calcite, feldspar, and mica are strongly water wet in a CO2-water system. 2. Oil-wet limestone, oil-wet quartz, or coal is intermediate wet or CO2 wet in a CO2-water system. 3. The contact angle alone is insufficient for predicting capillary pressures in reservoir or seal rocks. 4. The current contact angle data have a large uncertainty. 5. Solid theoretical understanding on a molecular level of rock-CO2-brine interactions is currently limited. 6. In an ideal scenario, all seal and storage rocks in CGS formations are tested for their CO2 wettability. 7. Achieving representative subsurface conditions (especially in terms of the rock surface) in the laboratory is of key importance but also very challenging. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/20032 10.1002/2014WR015553 Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc. unknown
spellingShingle CO2-wettability
residual trapping
structural trapping
carbon storage
Iglauer, Stefan
Pentland, C.
Busch, A.
CO2 wettability of seal and reservoir rocks and the implications for carbon geo-sequestration
title CO2 wettability of seal and reservoir rocks and the implications for carbon geo-sequestration
title_full CO2 wettability of seal and reservoir rocks and the implications for carbon geo-sequestration
title_fullStr CO2 wettability of seal and reservoir rocks and the implications for carbon geo-sequestration
title_full_unstemmed CO2 wettability of seal and reservoir rocks and the implications for carbon geo-sequestration
title_short CO2 wettability of seal and reservoir rocks and the implications for carbon geo-sequestration
title_sort co2 wettability of seal and reservoir rocks and the implications for carbon geo-sequestration
topic CO2-wettability
residual trapping
structural trapping
carbon storage
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/20032