The influence of water and supercritical CO2 on the failure behavior of chalk

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Abstract Reduction of compressive strength by injection of water into chalk is a well-known mechanism responsible for increased compaction in chalk reservoirs. This raises the question of whether such effects might be enhanced in the context of long-term storage of CO 2 or of CO 2 injection for enhanced oil and gas recovery (EOR/EGR) purposes. Therefore, data regarding the effect of supercritical CO 2 on the mechanical behavior of chalk are needed. The effect of supercritical CO 2 on the short-term failure behavior of wet chalk was accordingly investigated by means of conventional triaxial deformation experiments, performed on Maastrichtian chalk cores under dry conditions, in the presence of saturated chalk solution and using CO 2 -saturated solution at temperatures simulating reservoir conditions (20–80 °C) and effective confining pressures up to 7 MPa. Increasing temperature from 20 to 80 °C did not show any significant effects on the strength of the dry samples. Addition of aqueous solution to the samples led to drastic weakening of the chalk, the effect being more pronounced at high effective confining pressures (Peff > 3 MPa). Addition of 10 MPa supercritical CO 2 to wet samples did not produce any significant additional effect in comparison with the wet samples. All samples showed a yield strength envelope characterized by shear failure at low effective mean stresses giving way to a compaction cap at high mean stresses. The weakening effect of aqueous solution was explained in terms of a reduction in frictional resistance of the material, due to water-enhanced grain-contact cracking, and perhaps pressure solution, with a possible contribution by disjoining pressure effects caused by water adsorption. While CO 2 does not seem to reduce short-term failure strength of wet chalk, processes such as intergranular pressure solution have to be considered for assessing mechanical stability of chalk in the context of long-term CO 2 storage or EOR/EGR operations.