Pore-Scale Mineral Accessibility and Diagenetic Controls on CO2 Reactivity in the Mount Simon Sandstone, Butler County, OH
Date
2025-05
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Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
The anthropogenic perturbation of the global CO2 cycle, driven by the continued reliance on fossil fuels, is both the unavoidable outcome of the fossil energy that we mine to maintain our current economic system as well as an ever-increasing threat to our ecological systems and our economic stability. Carbon capture and storage (CCS), from a technological and engineering perspective, has been an emerging interim solution that is allowing for the reduction of atmospheric CO2 accumulations while society transitions to energy sources that will sustain the world’s prosperity. A critical component to CCS technology is the secure storage of CO2 in deep geological formations such as the Mt. Simon Sandstone Formation in Ohio.
This study investigates how matrix mineralogy, diagenetic alteration, and pore geometry affect the Mount Simon Sandstone’s potential for CO2 storage. The primary objective is to quantify accessible reactive mineralogy exposed to pore space, with the goal to assess their contribution to long-term geochemical trapping mechanisms.
QEMSCAN mineral mapping, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MICP) were integrated with advanced image segmentation techniques using ImageJ and ilastik to analyze six core sample intervals (ARM1-5 through ARM1-11). Results reveal that mineral accessibility, not total abundance, is the strongest control on potential reactivity. Specifically, feldspar and illite-rich intervals with large, well-connected pores (e.g. ARM1-7) represent an optimal zone for both injectivity and mineral trapping, while deeper, more cemented intervals may benefit as containment barriers.
Description
Keywords
CO2 Sequestration, Mount Simon Sandstone, Pore-Scale Mineralogy, Diagenetic Alteration, QEMSCAN Analysis, Mineral Accessibility