Microbial community and inorganic fluid analysis during CO2 storage within the frame of CO2SINK–Long-term experiments under in situ conditions

Abstract

Abstract Microorganisms play an important role in the transformation of material within the earth’s crust. The storage of CO2 could affect the composition of inorganic and organic components in the reservoir, consequently influencing microbial activities. To study the microbial induced processes together with geochemical, petrophysical and mineralogical changes, occurring during CO2 storage, long-term laboratory experiments under simulated reservoir P-T conditions were carried out. Clean inner core sections, obtained from the reservoir region at the CO2 storage site in Ketzin (Germany) from a depth of about 650 m, were incubated in high pressure vessels together with sterile synthetic formation brine under in situ P-T conditions of 5.5 MPa and 40 °C. A 16S rDNA based fingerprinting method was used to identify the dominant species in DNA extracts of pristine sandstone samples. Members of the α - and β -subdivisions of Proteobacteria and the Actinobacteria were identified. So far sequences belonging to facultative anaerobic, chemoheterotrophic bacteria (Burkholderia fungorum, Agrobacterium tumefaciens) gaining their energy from the oxidation of organic molecules and a genus also capable of chemolithoautotrophic growth (Hydrogenophaga) was identified. During CO2 incubation minor changes in the microbial community composition were observed. The majority of microbes were able to adapt to the changed conditions. During CO2 exposure increased concentrations of Ca2+, K+, Mg2+ and SO42− were observed. Partially, concentration rises are (i) due to equilibration between rock pore water and synthetic brine, and (ii) between rock and brine, and are thus independent on CO2 exposure. However, observed concentrations of Ca2+, K+, Mg2+ are even higher than in the original reservoir fluid and therefore indicate mineral dissolution due to CO2 exposure.