This project aims to demonstrate techniques for quantitatively predicting the combined seismic signatures of CO2 saturation, chemical changes to the rock frame, and pore pressure. This will be accomplished (i) by providing a better understanding the reaction kinetics of CO2-bearing reactive fluids with rock-forming minerals, and (ii) by quantifying how the resulting long-term, CO2-injection-ind...

We present the results from a novel experimental apparatus that can image – at the micron scale – fluid displacements at elevated temperatures and pressures. The images are acquired using a micro-CT scanner (Xradia Versa 500) that has been adapted to allow core flood experiments to be conducted in situ, allowing continuous imaging at resolutions down to around 1 μm. A small cylindrical core – a...

BACKGROUND This study investigates the generation of HCl and other acid gases from boiling calcium chloride dominated waters at atmospheric pressure, primarily using numerical modeling. The main focus of this investigation relates to the long-term geologic disposal of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, where pore waters around waste-emplacement tunnels are expected to undergo boiling and ...

When mammalian mitochondria are exposed to high calcium and phosphate, a massive swelling, uncoupling of respiration and release of cytochrome c occur. These changes are mediated by opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP). Activation of the MPTP in vivo in response to hypoxic and oxidative stress leads to necrotic and apoptotic cell death. Considering that embryos of th...

When mammalian mitochondria are exposed to high calcium and phosphate, a massive swelling, uncoupling of respiration, and release of cytochrome c occur. These changes are mediated by opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP). Activation of the MPTP in vivo in response to hypoxic and oxidative stress leads to necrotic and apoptotic cell death. Considering that embryos of t...

Xanthan gum (XG) biopolymer-based soil treatment is an effective improvement method. In this study, we explored the effect of XG on undrained shear strength clays (kaolinite and montmorillonite) in chemically distinct pore fluids. Among fluids tested, kaolinite was highest kerosene, followed by deionized (DI) water brine. This study hypothesized that interparticle forces interactions dominated ...

To investigate the potential for the geologic storage of CO2 in saline sedimentary aquifers, 1600 t of CO2 were injected at 1500 m depth into a 24-m-thick sandstone section of the Frio Formation, a regional brine and oil reservoir in the U.S. Gulf Coast. Fluid samples obtained from the injection and observation wells before CO2 injection showed a Na-CaCl–type brine with 93,000 mg/L total dissol...

The main goal of this study was to capture the variations in pore-network, mechanical and hydrological characteristics two different sandstone specimens subjected CO 2 -enriched brine injection. first specimen (S1) from Allegheny National Forest, Northwestern Pennsylvania second one a Triassic Pecos (S2) Barstow (TX) quarry. Core-flooding experiments were performed under overburden stresses por...

Sandstone formations are ubiquitous in both aquifers and petroleum reservoirs, of which clay is a major constituent. The release of clay particles from pore surfaces as a result of reduced injection fluid salinity can greatly modify the recovery of hydrocarbons from subsurface formations by shifting the wettability properties of the rock. In this paper we demonstrate a microfluidic approach whe...

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a method to reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions thereby mitigating global warming. In CCS, carbon dioxide (CO2) is captured from fossil fuel-fired power plants or other large point-source emitters, purified, compressed and injected deep underground into subsurface formations at depths of or greater than 800m. At such depths CO2 is in a supercritical...