Reactive transport modeling of CO$_{2}$ inside a fractured rock: Implications of mass transfer and storage capacity

A numerical model of geochemical transport is developed to evaluate long term mineral trapping of CO$_{2}$ inside a fractured rock. The problem contains flow of CO$_{2}$ between finite plates that represents a single fracture in post-injection regime. This study investigates the impact of fractures on CO$_{2}$ transport and storage capacity. The effect of surface roughness is also investigated to predict the actual efficiency of mineral trapping of CO$_{2}$ for a long period of time. The model is composed of direct numerical simulation tools and algorithms for incompressible flow and conservative transport combined with kinetics of corresponding chemical reactions. For each time step, transport and reactions are solved by means of finite difference method using a sequential non-iterative approach. It is found that the simple fracture is filled at the inlet because concentrations of carbonate ions are greater (more saturated states).