(540f) Role of CO2 Adsorption for Enhanced Gas Recovery in Carbonate Rocks: Experimental and Simulation Analysis

With increasing energy demand and consumption, the focus has shifted to natural gas which is a clean and environmentally friendly energy resource. Injecting carbon dioxide (CO₂) for enhanced gas recovery (EGR) has gained more attention because of the dual benefit of increasing natural gas production and simultaneously sequestering CO₂. The objective of this work is to address the role of CO₂ adsorption on the efficiency of EGR in carbonate reservoirs based on lab experiments and modeling investigation. Limestone samples were used for the sorption experiments and the behavior of CO₂/ methane (CH₄) adsorption/desorption was simulated on calcite using molecular simulation. The obtained results showed that the CO₂ adsorption increased and CH₄ adsorption decreased as the temperature raised. No hysteresis was observed during the desorption stage indicating physisorption. The simulation results confirmed the lab observations of the physical adsorption behavior of CO₂ and CH₄ on the limestone surface suggesting that calcite preferential adsorbs CO₂ over CH₄.

Funding: This publication is made possible by grant NPRP10-0125-170235 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.