Carbon mineralization in CO2-seawater-basalt systems: Reactive transport dynamics and vesicular pore architecture controls

TL;DR

This study investigates how carbonate mineralization occurs in basaltic rocks using experiments, simulations, and pore imaging, revealing stochastic precipitation, the importance of residence time, and pore network effects on permeability.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the stochastic nature of carbonate precipitation and the influence of pore network topology on reactive transport in basaltic systems.

Findings

Carbonate precipitation is nucleation-controlled and stochastic.

Residence time significantly affects mineralization visibility.

Pore network topology controls permeability and vulnerability to clogging.

Abstract

Carbon mineralization in basaltic rocks may offer rapid, permanent \ce{CO2} storage, yet fundamental controls on reactive transport and precipitation patterns remain poorly understood. This study integrates flow-through experiments at 80\degree C using \ce{CO2}-acidified seawater with geochemical simulation and multi-scale pore imaging to elucidate mineralization dynamics in basaltic glass. Results reveal that carbonate precipitation is nucleation-controlled and stochastic rather than growth-controlled and deterministic, with isolated accumulations forming randomly despite continuous supersaturation. Residence time exerts primary control: reducing flow rate from 0.05 to 0.005\,mL/min proved necessary for visible precipitation. Post-experiment analyses identified calcium carbonate and smectite phases. Multi-scale characterization of three basalt facies revealed that connected porosity fractions (1.3--32\%) differ significantly from total porosity (18--42\%), demonstrating that network topology controls permeability. Micro-CT analysis revealed that pore coordination numbers in basalts (modal = 2) were notably lower than those in reservoir sandstones, creating serial flow paths that are vulnerable to catastrophic permeability loss from modest precipitation. Precipitation-induced clogging scenarios were proposed, where distributed small precipitates cause more severe permeability degradation than large accumulations. The use of seawater complicates geochemistry and reduces mineralization efficiency compared to freshwater. Findings emphasize the need for probabilistic reactive transport modeling frameworks and realistic pore topologies, which are fundamentally different from conventional CCS operations.