Experimental simulation of water-coal interactions during liquid CO2 injection into coal beds

Abstract

Injection of liquid CO2 (LCO2) into coal reservoirs is an extremely effective way to enhance coalbed methane recovery and storage. This study aimed to investigate the changes in mineral composition and content during the chemical reaction between coal samples and weakly acidic fluids dissolved in LCO2. Therefore, in this study, simulating the formation temperature (30 °C), three types of coal samples with different metamorphic degrees (lignite, anthracite, and bituminous coal) were selected for CO2–H2O-coal interaction leaching experiments under various pressure conditions (1 MPa, 3 MPa, 5 MPa). X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) was used to test coal samples' mineral composition and content before and after LCO2 injection under different pressure conditions. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) was used to observe the evolution pattern of surface characteristics before and after the dissolution of the coal body by LCO2. The results showed that minerals such as kaolinite, illite, quartz, and potassium feldspar in the three coal samples underwent mineral transformation during the reaction process at different dissolution pressures, and the content changed significantly in the early stage of the reaction. The initial content of kaolinite in the bituminous coal (16.5%) increased to 23.8%, 26.7%, and 25.2% respectively under different leaching pressures of 1 MPa, 3 MPa, and 5 MPa. Carbonate minerals dissolved rapidly in the initial stages of the reaction, the initial content of calcite, a carbonate mineral in the anthracite (9.8%), decreased to 4.2%, 3.8%, and 2.4% respectively under different leaching pressures of 1 MPa, 3 MPa, and 5 MPa. Similarly, the initial content of siderite decreased from 6.8% to 2.8%, 2.3%, and 1.6% respectively. LCO2 pressure had a significant influence on the reaction. These results advance our understanding of LCO2 dissolution of minerals in coal.