Zn(II), Mn(II) and Sr(II) Behavior in a Natural Carbonate Reservoir System. Part I: Impact of Salinity, Initial pH and Initial Zn(II) Concentration in Atmospheric Conditions

• Main Authors: Auffray B., Garcia B., Lienemann C.-P., Sorbier L., Cerepi A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: EDP Sciences 2016-07-01
• Series: Oil & Gas Science and Technology
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.2516/ogst/2015044

The sorption of inorganic elements on carbonate minerals is well known in strictly controlled conditions which limit the impact of other phenomena such as dissolution and/or precipitation. In this study, we evidence the behavior of Zn(II) (initially in solution) and two trace elements, Mn(II) and Sr(II) (released by carbonate dissolution) in the context of a leakage from a CO2 storage site. The initial pH chosen are either equal to the pH of the water-CO2 equilibrium (~ 2.98) or equal to the pH of the water-CO2-calcite system (~ 4.8) in CO2 storage conditions. From this initial influx of liquid, saturated or not with respect to calcite, the batch experiments evolve freely to their equilibrium, as it would occur in a natural context after a perturbation. The batch experiments are carried out on two natural carbonates (from Lavoux and St-Emilion) with PCO2 = 10−3.5 bar, with different initial conditions ([Zn(II)]i from 10−4 to 10−6 M, either with pure water or 100 g/L NaCl brine). The equilibrium regarding calcite dissolution is confirmed in all experiments, while the zinc sorption evidenced does not always correspond to the two-step mechanism described in the literature. A preferential sorption of about 10% of the concentration is evidenced for Mn(II) in aqueous experiments, while Sr(II) is more sorbed in saline conditions. This study also shows that this preferential sorption, depending on the salinity, is independent of the natural carbonate considered. Then, the simulations carried out with PHREEQC show that experiments and simulations match well concerning the equilibrium of dissolution and the sole zinc sorption, with log KZn(II) ~ 2 in pure water and close to 4 in high salinity conditions. When the simulations were possible, the log K values for Mn(II) and Sr(II) were much different from those in the literature obtained by sorption in controlled conditions. It is shown that a new conceptual model regarding multiple Trace Elements (TE) sorption is required, to enable us to better understand the fate of contaminants in natural systems.