UMass Sesquicentennial

Experiments Summarizing the Potential of CO2 Sequestration in the Basalts of Massachusetts – Final Report

TitleExperiments Summarizing the Potential of CO2 Sequestration in the Basalts of Massachusetts – Final Report
Publication TypeReport
Year of Publication2011
AuthorsPetrick, C, Mabee, SB
Pagination103
Date Published10/2011
PublisherMassachusetts Geological Survey
CityAmherst, MA
Keywords#MGSPub, #MGSPubs, #Reports, basalts, Carbon, carbonate, climate change, CO2, Holyoke Basalt, injection, mineralization, precipitation, sequestration
Abstract

Basalts are gaining more attention as reservoirs for the geological sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2). The purpose of this report is to present the results of experiments that were conducted on the basalts in western Massachusetts and Connecticut to determine their potential to sequester CO2. There were two primary objectives of these experiments:

  • To recreate and validate prior carbonate mineralization experiments conducted on the Holyoke basalt by Schaef et al. (2009) from Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL) and to test if their results are reproducible and geographically consistent within western Massachusetts and Connecticut, and,
  • 2. To explore the possibility of reacting CO2 with basalt at the earth’s surface in an ex-situ mineral reactor and, in particular, to identify the optimum conditions necessary to precipitate large amounts of carbonate at the surface in a short time period by varying pressure, temperature, water volume, mass of sample and grain size in the experiments.

    • Prepared for the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center
    URLhttp://www.geo.umass.edu/stategeologist/Products/reports/BasaltSequestrationReport.pdf
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