Mobility Control Potential in Geological Sequestration of Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide using Cheap Soluble Organics as Thickeners and Implications for Interfacial Stability

Abstract

Current levels of anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are responsible for global warming at scales not seen before. To mitigate this global warming trend, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has universally adopted the geological carbon storage option. The technical implication of geological carbon storage is that carbon dioxide with a very low dynamic viscosity will be injected to push formation brine with a high viscosity contrast. Consequently, problems of interfacial instability responsible for poor sweep efficiencies encountered in the petroleum industry’s improved oil recovery projects are inevitable. The petroleum industry has used costly mobility control agents in the form of carbon dioxide thickeners to solve problems of poor sweep efficiency in carbon dioxide enhance oil recovery projects. This experience is useful to the geological sequestration community because carbon dioxide geological storage under supercritical conditions is considered an optimized approach. In this paper, We have reviewed literature to show the solubility of waste organics in supercritical carbon dioxide and the possibility to increase its dynamic viscosity to reduce interfacial instability problems. We have, also, reviewed literature to show sources and availability of cheap soluble organics for carbon dioxide thickening. Our review shows promising sources of these soluble organics. Finally, the technical implications of dynamic viscosity increase on a given geological storage project have been discussed in the context of interfacial stability theories.