Carbon Capture and Storage

Our laboratory studies fundamental aspects of geologic carbon dioxide sequestration in saline aquifers. We are able to replicate reservoir salinity, temperature, and pressure conditions upon cores of rock and flow mixtures of CO2 and brine. A medical CT-scanner is used to image the distribution of CO2 and brine inside the rock in real time. Our main interest is in the methods by which CO2 is immobilized in rock. More specifically, we aim to have a better understanding of the inherent heterogeneous structure of sandstone reservoir rocks and how small-scale capillary barriers, known as capillary heterogeneity, affect CO2 migration and trapping. 

Other research interests in the area of subsurface CO2 flow behavior include CO2/water two-phase flow relative permeability in fractured basalts, CO2 exsolution and process-dependent trapping processes, pore-scale observation and modeling of CO2 trapping, as well as Ostwald ripening in rocks and its implications for CO2 trapping permanence.