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New EESA Study Indicates Greater Capacity for Carbon Storage in the Subsurface3 min read

by Christina Procopiou on February 6, 2018

Center for Nanoscale Control of Geologic CO2 Discovery Geosciences Program Domain Energy Geosciences Division Energy Resources Program Area Energy Resources Program Domain Fundamental Earth Sciences Program Area Fundamental Geosciences Program GC-Sustainable Earth Geologic Carbon Sequestration Program Resilient Energy Sustainable Energy Systems Program Sustainable Energy Systems Program Domain

 

Jiamin Wan led a team in the study for NCGC.

New research from the Energy Geosciences Division at Berkeley Lab shows that carbon dioxide can penetrate the inner layers of some non-swelling clay minerals which make up the dominant clays in the Earth’s deep subsurface. Results of the work performed at the Center for Nanoscale Controls on Geologic CO2 (NCGC) and the national lab’s Molecular Foundry could help inform practices intended to help limit carbon dioxide emissions, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) and enhanced oil recovery (EOR).

The study led by EESA staff scientist Jiamin Wan represents ongoing efforts by the NCGC to understand how CO2 behaves one kilometer and farther below the Earth’s surface. A collaboration of seven partner institutions led by Berkeley Lab under the direction of Don DePaolo, NCGC is one of the country’s 32 Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) funded by the DOE’s Basic Energy Sciences (BES) program.

Previous studies have shown that CO2 can alter typical swelling (or expanding) phyllosilicate minerals such as smectite under the high pressures and temperatures of the deep subsurface. Less is known about the effects of CO2 on non-swelling phyllosilicates illite and muscovite, despite them being the dominant clay minerals in deep subsurface shales and mudstones.

Wan believes there is the assumption that CO2 cannot penetrate layers of minerals that do not expand. “Describing a clay mineral as ‘non-swelling’ means that it does not expand,” says Wan. “Because of this, people don’t imagine that CO2 can get into the mineral’s interlayers. Instead, they imagine CO2 uptake by only the outer surface of the minerals.”

This assumption may lead scientists to underestimate the amount of carbon storage capacity available within the deep subsurface. Wan and her team chose to conduct their experiments on the two similar clay minerals muscovite and illite using muscovite, because of the ability to extract it in large, smooth sheets.

Wan believes there is the assumption that CO2 cannot penetrate layers of minerals that do not expand. “Describing a clay mineral as ‘non-swelling’ means that it does not expand,” says Wan. “Because of this, people don’t imagine that CO2 can get into the mineral’s interlayers. Instead, they imagine CO2 uptake by only the outer surface of the minerals.”

In their study, the researchers subjected single muscovite crystals to incubation with supercritical CO2 (scCO2); then characterized the reacted samples using combined atomic force microscopy (AFM),  X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and off-gassing measurements. The first sign that CO2 had penetrated the muscovite sample came when after depressurization the team observed blisters on the muscovite surface (Fig. 1), indicating gas entering the interlayers.

Blistering on the muscovite surface after exposure.

The scientists then confirmed the presence of CO2 using XPS technology, and later quantified the amount of CO2 present by comparing muscovite samples exposed to scCO2 with unexposed control samples to measure the amount of off-gassing of CO2 from the muscovite samples. The exposed samples yielded approximately seven times more CO2 than control samples.

News & Events

EESA Scientists Investigate How Tropical Soil Microbes Might Respond to Future Droughts2 min read

March 14, 2023

As the most biologically diverse terrestrial ecosystems on Earth, tropical rainforests are just as critical to sustaining environmental and human systems as they are beautiful. Their unique climate with high temperatures, humidity, and precipitation promotes high primary productivity, which offsets high respiration, resulting in these ecosystems being one of the largest carbon sinks on Earth,…

Doubling Protected Lands for Biodiversity Could Require Tradeoffs With Other Land Uses, Study Finds4 min read

March 3, 2023

This article first appeared on lbl.gov. Scientists show how 30% protected land targets may not safeguard biodiversity hotspots and may negatively affect other sectors – and how data and analysis can support effective conservation and land use planning Although more than half the world’s countries have committed to protecting at least 30% of land and oceans…

Six Berkeley Lab Scientists Named AAAS Fellows6 min read

This article first appeared at lbl.gov Six researchers have been elected into the 2022 class of the American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has announced their 2022 Fellows, including six scientists from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). This lifetime honor, which follows…

Kenichi Soga named to National Academy of Engineers1 min read

February 23, 2023

Faculty scientist Kenichi Soga was named to the National Academy of Engineering (NA), one of the highest honors that can be achieved as an American engineer. Soga is the Donald H. McLaughlin Chair in Mineral Engineering and a Chancellor’s Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and has conducted groundbreaking research from infrastructure sensing to…

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