1 Carbonation of silica cement at high-temperature well conditions 1 Ruben Bjørge 1 , Kamila Gawel 1 , Elvia A. Chavez Panduro 2 , Malin Torsæter 1 2 1 SINTEF Industry, 7465 Trondheim, Norway 3 2 Department of Physics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway 4 Abstract 5 Cements for well environments with temperatures above 110°C are typically designed with 6 silica additions. This is the case for many of the wells in the North Sea, which is a region 7 promising for large-scale geological storage of CO2 from European sources. Wells are probable 8 leakage paths in carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, and it is therefore important to 9 understand how CO2 interacts with cement under downhole conditions. In this study, 10 microstructural changes associated with carbonation of cement with and without silica were 11 followed using micro-computed tomography, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron 12 microscopy. The rims of the cement cores exposed to CO2-saturated brine consisted of a 13 carbonated region and a bicarbonated region. In the silica cement sample, the carbonated region 14 consisted of two distinct layers with a rough interface region containing wormhole-like features. 15 The formation of these two layers in the silica cement is proposed to be due to calcium carbonate 16 dissolution and re-precipitation during exposure to CO2-saturated brine. The results illustrate 17 the importance of the effect of additives for offshore CO2-storage well integrity. 18 Key Words: CO2 storage; Cement; CO2 exposure; Well integrity; Silica; CCS 19 1. Introduction 20 CCS using depleted oil and gas reservoirs is considered a promising solution for reducing global 21 emissions of greenhouse gases but large-scale implementation is impeded by a fear of CO2 22 leakage from the reservoirs (Metz et al., 2005). The special report on CCS published by the 23 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) outlines that abandoned and injection 24 wells are among the most probable leakage paths from CO2 storage sites (Metz et al., 2005). 25 Injection and abandoned wells are man-made structures of several sets of steel pipes (casing) 26 and cement. The risk of CO2 leakage in these wells comes from different mechanisms, such as 27 cement fracturing, shrinkage or erosion, or casing corrosion (Celia et al., 2005). To avoid 28 leakage, focus on well integrity is important both during injection and as long as the CO2 is 29 stored (“Well integrity in drilling and well operations, NORSOK D-010,” 2013). This implies 30 that CO2 well integrity has a long-term perspective. 31
“Drafting an Understanding of Densified and Polished Concrete� (ICC03E)
Jun 17, 2023
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