Formation of carbon dioxide hydrate in soil and soil mineral suspensions with electrolytes

Abstract

We have identified the effects of solid surface (soil, bentonite, kaolinite, nontronite, and pyrite) and electrolyte (NaCl, KCl, CaCl2, and MgCl2) types on the formation and dissociation of CO2 hydrate in this study. The hydrate formation experiments were conducted by injecting CO2 gas into the soil suspensions with and without electrolytes in a 50 mL pressurized vessel. The formation of CO2 hydrate in deionized water was faster than that in aqueous electrolyte solutions. The addition of soil suspensions accelerated the formation of CO2 hydrate in the electrolyte solutions. The hydrate formation times in the solid suspensions without electrolytes were very similar to that in the deionized water. We did not observe any significant differences between the hydrate dissociation in the solid suspension and that in the deionized water. The pHs of clay mineral suspensions decreased significantly after CO2 hydrate formation and dissociation experiments, while the pH of the soil suspension slightly decreased by less than pH 1 and that of pyrite slightly increased due to the dissolution of CO2 forming carbonic acid. The results obtained from this research could be indirectly applied to the fate of CO2 sequestered into geological formations as well as its storage as a form of CO2 hydrate.