Molecular insights into the carbon dioxide sequestration in kerogen: An accelerated algorithm coupling molecular dynamics simulations and Monte Carlo methods

Abstract

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology has been applied successfully in recent decades to reduce carbon emissions and alleviate global warming. In this regard, shale reservoirs present tremendous potential for carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration as they have a large number of nanopores. An accelerated algorithm coupling molecular dynamics (MD) and Monte Carlo (MC) methods (MDMC) were employed in this work to study the sequestration behavior of CO2 in shale organic porous media. The MDMC method is used to analyze the spatial states of CO2, and the results are in good agreement with MD’s results, and MDMC is thousands of times faster compared to the classical MD. With regard to the kerogen matrix, its properties, such as the pore size distribution (PSD), pore volume, and surface area, are determined to describe its different compression states and the effects of CO2 absorption on it. The potential energy distribution and potential of mean force are analyzed to verify the spatial distribution of CO2 molecules. The heterogeneity of the pore structure resulted in heterogeneous distributions of CO2 molecules in kerogen porous media. Moreover, strong compression of the matrix reduces the number of large pores, and the PSD is mainly between 0 and 15 Å. Despite the high interaction force of the kerogen matrix, the high-potential-energy region induced by the kerogen skeleton also contributes to the formation of low-energy regions that encourage the entry of CO2. An increase in temperature facilitates the absorption process, allowing CO2 molecules to enter the isolated pores with stronger thermal motion.