Effect of capillary and viscous force on CO 2 saturation and invasion pattern in the microfluidic chip

• Published in: Journal of geophysical research. Solid earth 2017-03, Vol.122 (3), p.1634-1647
• Main Authors: Zheng, Xianglei, Mahabadi, Nariman, Yun, Tae Sup, Jang, Jaewon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2169-9313; 2169-9356
• DOI: 10.1002/2016JB013908

Carbon dioxide sequestration into geological formations has been identified as an alternative to mitigate the global climate change. The CO 2 invasion pattern is dependent on various factors such as fluid viscosity, interfacial tension, injection rate, and the characteristics of porous media. Among these variables, we provide a systematic experimental study on the influence of the injection rate and the phase of CO 2 invading into a brine‐saturated microfluidic chip in order to quantitatively assess the displacement ratio. Interfacial tension and contact angle are accurately measured under the temperature and pressure conditions relevant to in situ conditions. The injection rate varies 3 orders of magnitude for gaseous, liquid, supercritical CO 2 , and CO 2 ‐water foam invasion. The capillary number and the viscosity ratio are calculated for each experimental condition, and the displacement ratio (CO 2 saturation) is obtained after CO 2 invasion. The results show that the saturation of injected CO 2 is controlled by manipulating the injection rate and the phase of invading fluid, which can be used to optimize the in situ storage capacity. Especially, the CO 2 ‐water foam displaces almost all brine out of the microfluidic chip, but the increase in CO 2 saturation is 23% ~ 53% compared to pure gaseous CO 2 injection due to the water initially mixed in the CO 2 ‐water foam. The potential advantages of using CO 2 ‐water foam in the geological CO 2 sequestration were also discussed. Interfacial tension and contact angle relevant to in situ pressure and temperature conditions are accurately measured The saturation of CO 2 invading into a brine‐saturated microfluidic chip increases with increasing flow rate for a given viscosity ratio The invading CO 2 ‐water foam displaces most brine in the microfluidic chip, and the CO 2 saturation is dependent on the foam quality