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Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are a major driver of climate change. Innovative modelling and prediction techniques developed via EU-funded research will have a direct application in the carbon-sequestration sector and push the technological readiness of geological carbon storage from applied research towards wider commercial use.
The OMNICS initiative applied the latest advances in nanoscale X-ray imaging and supercomputing to determine where and how carbon dioxide should be stored safely and effectively after it has been captured from large emission sources such as coal-fired power plants. The EU-funded project, led by research fellow Yi Yang at the University of Copenhagen, addresses key challenges facing the broader application of geologic carbon storage.
Geologic carbon storage involves injecting and pumping CO2 into geological formations such as porous and permeable rocks deep below the Earth’s surface. Determining the right type of geological formation is therefore essential to ensure the CO2 remains locked up and cannot escape into the atmosphere.
In OMNICS, Yang and his adviser, Susan Stipp, studied how porous geological materials behave following CO2 injection, analysing the resulting geochemical reactions such as the disintegration of chalk due to CO2 acidity. The researchers used nanotomography, a form of precision X-ray imaging that enables them to visualise microscopic 3D details, to observe reactions and virtually recreate the processes taking place.
The virtual models, capturing dynamic geochemical reactions on a micro-scale in a laboratory, were then used to build novel mathematical models that could be scaled up using supercomputing systems. This has enabled the OMNICS researchers to predict how CO2 sequestration would affect large-scale geological formations underground. The results will inform guidance for site selection, risk assessment and injection management.
OMNICS received funding from the EU’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions programme.