Experimental study and reaction path modeling of the carbonation of natural serpentinites

TL;DR

This study investigates the carbonation reactions of natural serpentinites, revealing slow reactivity of serpentine, specific carbonate formation, and potential environmental hazards like asbestos precipitation during mineral carbonation.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the reactivity and reaction pathways of natural serpentinites during CO2 mineralization, highlighting conditions affecting carbonation efficiency and safety concerns.

Findings

Serpentine reacts slowly and only at high CO2 activity levels.

Carbonates formed are mainly Mg-rich calcite or Mg-depleted dolomite.

Precipitation of asbestos-like chrysotile can occur, posing environmental risks.

Abstract

Mineralization of carbon dioxide is often seen as an attractive alternative to classical Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies, allowing the sequestration of \ce{CO2} as a solid mineral with no risk of aquifer contamination or leakage back to the atmosphere. While olivine and pyroxenes are known to easily and quickly react with dissolved \ce{CO2}, fresh peridotites are quite rare and ultramafic rocks usually contain significant amounts of serpentine, which presents a lower reactivity. The purpose of this study was then to analyze the reactivity of two natural rocks: a partially serpentinized lherzolite and a fully altered serpentinite. Results confirm that serpentine is much slower to react and gets altered only if the activity of \ce{CO2} is high enough and if all olivine and pyroxenes have already been consumed. Resulting carbonates are mostly Mg-rich calcite or Mg-depleted dolomite with the occurrence of eitelite (\ce{Na2Mg(CO3)2} in the case of high Na activities. The carbonation of these serpentinite was however associated in some cases with a heavy precipitation of hazardous asbestiform chrysotile, which could be a potential threat for engineered carbonation processes.