Multi-scale observation and simulation of mineral reactions in subsurface energy systems

Mineral reactions in subsurface energy systems result in deviations from local equilibriums and can impact critical engineering properties of the system, including storage capacity (porosity) and injectivity (permeability). Accurate understanding and prediction of reaction rates and impacts on formation properties is needed for safe and efficient design and implementation of these engineered systems. Precise simulation of mineral reaction rates is limited by a poor understanding of the mineral reactive surface area in porous media. Here, pore scale numerical simulations are leveraged to simulate mineral reactions for varied flow and reaction conditions and the effective surface area analyzed. Numerical simulations of reactions in a porous media mesh are carried out in OpenFOAM® and a new scaling factor, relating the effective surface area to the accessible surface area, determined.