Research on CO2 transfer in basalt and sandstone using 3D pore space model generation and mathematical morphology

• Published in: Computers & geosciences 2022-08, Vol.165, p.105147, Article 105147
• Main Authors: Zhang, Xiang, Liu, Shuming, Lei, Zhen, Qu, Juntong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Basalt; CO2 transfer; Mathematical morphology; Pore-scale modeling; Sandstone
• ISSN: 0098-3004; 1873-7803
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cageo.2022.105147

The performance of basalt and sandstone for CO2 storage mainly depends on the CO2 migration and solidification in the pore network of rock. This study provides points of view for the simulation of the three-dimensional pore space and the numerical prediction of gas transfer in the microstructure of the studied rocks. The biphasic change on Gaussian random field forms a randomly shaped pore network and the combination of biphasic fields creates a porous model that satisfies the real rock porosity and pore size distribution. Based on the generated model, several calculation scenarios using the mathematical morphology are proposed and numerically implemented to investigate the pore space characteristics, to extract the potential CO2 transfer paths, to analyze the geometric features and thus to evaluate the CO2 storage performance. •3D pore space models of basalt and sandstone are generated.•Pore space characteristics are investigated using mathematical morphology.•The potential CO2 transfer path is numerically predicted.•Simulation results are in accordance with results in previous studies.