Speaker
Description
Global warming is a challenge affecting mankind ant its environs. To mitigate global warming, there is the need to adopt the pathway toward achieving global net-zero emission targets. Ghana is set to achieve net-zero by 2060 having updated its previous target from 2070. This requires Ghana to begin implementation of mitigation techniques to help in this decarbonization. Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) has been established as a mitigation method to global warming.
The success of CCUS approach depends on understanding the long-term containment efficiency of CO₂ in geological formations. This study investigates the CO₂ containment efficiency of Ghana’s Tano sedimentary basin using both experimental and simulation techniques. In the experiment, the seal will be subjected to carbonated water, CW (i.e. CO2 dissolved in brine) and aged for about 6 months at reservoir temperature. A base case experiment was performed with only the brine with CO2. The two samples were subjected to petrographic analyses to evaluate the efficiency of the seal to contain the injected CO2. The rock/brine/CO2 interactions during the experiment were modelled using their quantities and qualities are used in the experiment.
Preliminary findings from both the experiment and the simulation demonstrate that the presence of the CO2 make the FW slightly acidic by forming carbonic acid. This acid in turn dissolves some minerals in the seal especially glauconite if present thereby compromising its containment efficiency.
KEYWORDS: Containment efficiency, CCUS, Seal, Petrographic, PHREEQ-C, Dissolution