CO2 sequestration in a radial Hele-Shaw cell via an interfacial chemical reaction.

In this manuscript, experimental data for the displacement of a finite volume of aqueous Ca(OH)(2) using CO(2) gas in a radial Hele-Shaw cell will be presented. This chemical reaction is known to generate CaCO(3) precipitate along the gas-liquid interface and we seek to understand the influence of the reactive process on fluid displacement. The reactive experiment is compared with the non-reactive case to determine if there are any measurable differences between the two in the range of parameters: CO(2) pressures (1%-10% of an atmosphere measured in gage pressure), liquid volumes (either 50 or 70 μl), and Ca(OH)(2) concentrations (0, 10, or 20 mM) studied. Analysis is performed by measuring the displacing fluid area A(gas) and total fluid area A(tot) to determine several quantities (gas expansion rate, quasi-equilibrium film rate and value, and presence of fingering instability) used to distinguish the experiments. In general there appears to be little effect of the chemical reaction on most of the measured quantities.