Advances in Computed Tomography for Geomaterials: GeoX 2010

Synchrotron X-ray Micro-Tomography and Geological CO₂ Sequestration

P. S. Nico¹ — J. B. Ajo-Franklin¹ — S. M. Benson² — A. McDowell¹ — D. B. Silin¹ — L. Tomutsa¹ — Y. Wu¹

¹Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory One Cyclotron Road Berkeley, CA 94720 [e-mail]-Franklin @[e-mail]

 

²Global Climate & Energy ProjectStanford UniversityStanford, CA [e-mail]

ABSTRACT. We used beamline 8.3.2 of the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab to gain insights into processes important to the geological sequestration of CO₂. Beamline 8.3.2 is a dedicated hard x-ray CT beamline with a superbend magnet source that provides a monochromatic beam in the 8 to 45 keV range. Synchrotron based x-ray CT has several unique capabilities including a tuneable coherent x-ray source which allows for multi-energy chemically sensitive imaging. Data from 8.3.2 were analyzed using a novel Maximal Inscribed Sphere (MIS) algorithm in order to predict the distribution of CO₂ within a multi-phase system. In addition, time lapse imaging was used to characterize microbially driven precipitation events.

1. Introduction

Understanding and modeling processes in the subsurface requires an accurate understanding of the three dimensional structure of solid media and how that structure changes with time. Because x-ray CT can provide structural information without disrupting or destroying the matrix, it is an ideal ...