Investigation of solubility trapping mechanism during geologic CO2 sequestration in Deccan Volcanic Provinces, Saurashtra, Gujarat, India

Abstract

Solubility of CO2 in connate water plays a crucial role in facilitating the safe disposal of CO2 in geological formations, and this phenomenon in CO2 geological sequestration is termed solubility trapping. A multiphase-reactive transport code that solely considers CO2 dissolution and its accompanying pH fluctuation are used to investigate the influence of the geological and sequestration parameters on a solubility trapping mechanism. A 3-dimensional synthetic geological domain is modelled based on the geological data of Deccan volcanic provinces in Saurashtra, Gujarat, India. The stairsteps kind of morphology of geological formation obtained from literature was considered. Simulation results have shown that parameters such as caprock morphology, petrophysical properties, and injection location significantly affect solubility trapping. Solubility trapping can be observed by examining the pH variation, pressure distribution, and CO2 migration patterns. Analysis of such domains can give foresight about the possible implementation of CO2 sequestration and its influence on the solubility trapping mechanism.