Research Project Full Title: Geological Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide
Principal Investigator(s): Charlie Werth, Ange-Theresa Akono (UIUC), Nicolas Espinoza (UT Austin), Albert Valocchi (UIUC), Bruce Fouke (UIUC)
Researchers: Samantha Fuchs
Sponsor(s): Department of Energy
Full Abstract: A promising strategy to mitigate climate change is to capture CO2 from electrical power plants and to inject it into deep saline reservoirs for long-term storage. In this project we are investigating the influence of mineral wettability on the migration pathways of CO2 when injected into a saline reservoir. A high pressure and temperature goniometer was built, and contact angle measurements are being done on a Mt. Simon sandstone sample, and on different mineral end members identified in this sandstone.