Mobilisation of organic compounds from reservoir rocks through the injection of CO₂ - comparison of baseline characterization and laboratory  experiments

In the framework of CO₂ storage activities, the aim of our investigations is mainly to evaluate the effects of supercritical CO₂ (scCO₂) on the quantitative and qualitative extraction of organic compounds from reservoir rocks. Within the scope of the CO₂ storage project CO₂SINK the major task was to identify key mechanisms occurring in the reservoir as a result of the injection of CO₂ into a saline aquifer. Here, it is of special interest what types and amounts of organic matter will be extracted and mobilized from the reservoir rocks in conjunction with the injection of scCO₂. Thus, our investigations may help to evaluate the efficiency and reliability of the long-term storage of CO₂ in such a geological system. Here, we present compound-specific results from laboratory scCO₂-extraction experiments on reservoir rock samples from the CO₂ storage site in Ketzin, Germany. Low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOA) as well as polar lipid fatty acids (PLFA) extracted by scCO2 were analysed using ion chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, respectively. Through the exposure to scCO₂ mainly formate and acetate, but also other LMWOA were released from the rock samples in varying amounts. PLFA profiles of scCO₂ extracts were dominated by saturated and unsaturated fatty acids with 16 and 18 carbon atoms of bacterial origin. The results of scCO₂ extraction are compared with the characterization of the organic inventory of pristine rock samples and fluid samples from observation wells of the Ketzin site to obtain information on quantitative and qualitative significance of the solvent potential of scCO₂.

Subjects

CO2 storage

Ketzin

organic compounds

supercritical CO2 extraction

DDC Class

620: Ingenieurwissenschaften

Lizenz

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/de/

Name

1-s2.0-S1876610211006886-main.pdf

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193.95 KB

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Adobe PDF

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Mobilisation of organic compounds from reservoir rocks through the injection of CO₂ - comparison of baseline characterization and laboratory experiments