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Mechanisms of feldspar dissolution and associated authigenic mineral precipitation in coal measure tight sandstone reservoirs: Insights using a reaction-transport numerical model incorporating organic chelation
Get PDFFeldspar dissolution plays a pivotal role in the development of reservoirs. However, our knowledge of the controlling mechanisms of organic chelation and the effect of other factors on feldspar dissolution and authigenic mineral precipitation in coal-measure reservoirs remain insufffcient. This study investigates the dissolution-precipitation mechanisms and their impacts on secondary porosity development through integrated petrological, geochemical and numerical simulation. Petrographic analysis reveals a distinctive spatial decoupling of feldspar dissolution and authigenic mineral precipitation: Sandstones adjacent to coal seams exhibit enhanced feldspar dissolution but limited kaolinite precipitation, whereas kaolinite peaks anomalously in mid-lithofacies zones. Through numerical simulations, signiffcant solute migration is revealed under the constraints of organic chelation at 65 and 100 ◦C, and the principal stage of effective secondary porosity development is identiffed as early diagenetic stage B to middle diagenetic stage A1. Organic acid, temperature and flow rate are the key controlling factors on feldspar dissolution and authigenic mineral precipitation. Oxalic acid enhances feldspar dissolution via aqueous chelation and a reinforced proton-promoting mechanism, and the resultant Al-oxalate chelates suppress kaolinite precipitation. The feldspar dissolution rates increase exponentially with temperature elevation, driving subsequent authigenic mineral precipitation. Meanwhile, the flow rate controls solute transport efffciency. Rapid flow in low-temperature open systems facilitates long-distance solute export and inhibits mineral precipitation, whereas stagnant flow in high-temperature closed systems constrains feldspar dissolution and enhances authigenic precipitation. Given the global prevalence of coal-measure reservoirs, the proposed dissolution-precipitation model provides critical insights for the evolution of secondary porosity in coal-measure sandstone reservoirs.Document Type: Original articleCited as: Huang, W., Xi, K., Cao, Y., Shan, X., Cui, Z., Hellevang, H. Mechanisms of feldspar dissolution and associated authigenic mineral precipitation in coal measure tight sandstone reservoirs: Insights using a reaction-transport numerical model incorporating organic chelation. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2025, 18(1): 51-68. https://doi.org/10.46690/ager.2025.10.0
Pore-scale simulation of permeability evolution induced by mineral precipitation during reactive transport
Get PDFIn order to examine the heterogeneous nucleation and growth dynamics of mineral precipitation in reactive transport systems, as well as the evolution of key upscaling parameters, such as porosity and permeability, this study employs a model that integrates pore-scale reactive transport with arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian method. This model incorporates a heterogeneous probabilistic nucleation process based on classical nucleation theory, which is used to parametrically simulate the nucleation and growth processes of individual mineral particles within the reactive transport. The findings indicate that fluid velocity, along with nucleation and mineral growth rates, plays critical roles in determining the pattern and spatial distribution of precipitates. Nucleation promotes irregularities in the precipitate pattern and reduces the influence of flow on the spatial distribution of precipitate formation across particle surfaces. Precipitation on the surface of a single mineral particle within a pore channel is more accurately governed by a power law model, which captures the evolutionary relationship between porosity and permeability in porous media with periodic structures.Document Type: Original articleCited as: Li, H., Wang, F., Wu, T., Yuan, Y., Zhu, H., Liu, J. Pore-scale simulation of permeability evolution induced by mineral precipitation during reactive transport. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2025, 18(2): 109-120. https://doi.org/10.46690/ager.2025.11.0
Corrigendum to “Influence of roughness on spontaneous air-water imbibition in fractures: Insights from mathematical model analysis” [Capillarity 2025, 16(3): 87-94]
Get PDFWith the aim to explore the effects of fracture surface roughness on spontaneous imbibition behavior, this study investigates spontaneous air-water imbibition in rough fractures. For this purpose, a mathematical model that comprehensively accounts for fracture surface roughness and gravitational influence is developed. Using the Lambert function, a fully analytical solution for the imbibition height during the spontaneous air-water imbibition process is derived. The results indicate that neglecting fracture surface roughness leads to the overestimation of imbibition rate in model predictions. Moreover, the equilibrium imbibition height is significantly greater than the actual values, which aligns with the experimental observations. As the fractal dimension increases, the rate of imbibition height change decreases, and the imbibition height attained within the same time period is correspondingly reduced. A decrease in contact angle and an increase in interfacial tension both amplify the effect of roughness on imbibition behavior. Additionally, both the equilibrium height and the time required to reach equilibrium decrease with increasing fractal dimension. This research not only deepens the understanding of fluid flow mechanisms in complex fracture networks but also provides essential theoretical support and scientific guidance for engineering applications such as oil and gas extraction.Document Type: CorrigendumCited as: Cheng, H., Lai, R., Liu, J., Zhao, X., Yuan, Y., Wang, F. Corrigendum to "influence of roughness on spontaneous air-water imbibition in fractures: insights from mathematicalmodel analysis"[Capillarity 2025, 16(3):87-94]. Capillarity, 2025, 17(1): 37-37. https://doi.org/10.46690/capi.2025.10.04This article is a correction to: Influence of roughness on spontaneous air-water imbibition in fractures: Insights from mathematical model analysis. Read original articl
Development of in-situ permeability testing system for low-permeability sandstone-type uranium deposits
Get PDFRapid and accurate in-situ permeability testing is extremely important during the in-situ leaching of low-permeability sandstone-type uranium deposits. The current permeability testing methods rely on laboratory tests and the inversion of core or debris samples, which cannot reflect the true permeability of uranium deposits under their occurrence conditions. Therefore, this paper proposes a testing device based on the pressure pulse method for the in-situ permeability and corresponding automatic calculation software, and establishes the testing process. Specimen tests on a concrete model are carried out, and the testing results show consistency with the laboratory results and the micro-seepage numerical simulation results of uranium deposit cores in terms of magnitude and governing laws. However, due to factors such as the specimen tests not considering confining pressure, the uneven pouring, and the local cracking of the specimen caused by pulse pressure, the measured permeability deviation is between 7.14% and 21.47%. The permeability test results are related to the mineral stacking structure, the testing system, and the testing process. The permeability of uranium deposits with local gravel and basal cementation mode is relatively small. The main factors affecting the permeability test results are the deformation and friction of the high-pressure water storage tank and cable, the loose connection of various components, the integrity of the wellbore casing or the wellbore wall, and the installation position of the measuring section system. This study presents a rapid and accurate insitu permeability testing technology for low-permeability sandstone-type uranium deposits, providing technical support for site selection and effect prediction in in-situ learning.Document Type: Original articleCited as: Wang, W., Yang, K., Niu, Q., Han, Z., Zhang, J., Agarwal, V. Development of in-situ permeability testing system for low-permeability sandstone-type uranium deposits. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2025, 18(1): 69-83. https://doi.org/10.46690/ager.2025.10.0
Non-monotonic effect of permeability and wettability on immiscible displacement dynamics in porous media
Get PDFThe immiscible displacement behavior in porous media is crucial for oil recovery and subsurface remediation, yet how wettability influences this process across different pore structures remains unclear. Using a color-gradient lattice Boltzmann model, this study investigates immiscible displacement dynamics in porous media. Heterogeneous porous structures with various degrees of permeability were reconstructed using the quarter structure generation set algorithm, and wettability effects were analyzed with the contact angle set in the range of 30◦to 150◦. The numerical results showed that porous heterogeneity greatly affects the displacement efficiency via permeability-dependent flow pathway optimization. Enhanced efficiency was observed in high-permeability media through low-tortuosity channels, whereas low-permeability systems exhibited reduced efficiency due to capillary trapping in pores with lower flow capacity. Wettability alters displacement patterns via capillary forces – under hydrophilic condition, the displacing fluid preferentially enters smaller pores. Fractal dimension and Euler number were used to quantify flow heterogeneity, revealing that increased permeability reduces flow complexity and improves connectivity. Moreover, permeability heterogeneity and wettability interact to disrupt classical linear flow responses, leading to non-monotonic efficiency trends in lowpermeability systems. These findings highlight the importance of pore-scale multiphase flow in heterogeneous media and offer new insights for predicting wettability effects in subsurface flows.Document Type: Original articleCited as: Gong, W., Liu, Y., Dai, C., Zheng, J., Chen, Z., Zhao, W., Li, J. Non-monotonic effect of permeability and wettability on immiscible displacement dynamics in porous media. Capillarity, 2025, 17(2): 54-67. https://doi.org/10.46690/capi.2025.11.0
Quantum machine learning-driven surrogate modeling for efficient multi-objective optimization of CO₂ storage and geothermal energy extraction
Get PDFCO₂ plume geothermal systems offer a promising pathway for simultaneous carbon sequestration and renewable energy production, yet their optimization remains computationally prohibitive due to the complexity of coupled multi-phase flow, heat transport, and thermodynamic processes. This study presents a novel framework that integrates Non-isothermal Unsaturated-saturated Flow and Transport modeling with quantum neural network and hybrid quantum-classical ensemble regressors to accelerate CO₂ plume geothermal system design optimization. The methodology employs latin hypercube sampling to generate 1,000 Non-isothermal Unsaturated-saturated Flow and Transport simulations across several parameter spaces, extracting statistical features that undergo rigorous selection through Boruta, Chi-squared, and Pearson correlation algorithms with a standardized weight threshold of higher than 0.75. Two quantum architectures were developed to predict six geothermal variables, including system lifetime, injected, extracted, stored CO₂ mass, cumulative energy recovery and average heat extraction rate within lifetime. The quantum models achieved exceptional accuracy for most variables in the test section, with hybrid quantum-classical ensemble regressors architectures consistently outperforming quantum neural network variants, particularly when combined with boruta feature selection. Two optimization algorithms were employed for CO₂ plume geothermal system design, including moth flame optimization for single objectives and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II for multi-objective scenarios to find robust optimal solutions based on developed surrogate models for injection overpressure, well spacing near and maximizing thermal energy extraction. The framework transformed a computationally intractable optimization requiring extensive simulation time into a rapid calculation while maintaining prediction accuracy comparable to full-physics models.Document Type: Original articleCited as: Mohammadi, B., Chen, M., Nikoo, M. R., Al-Maktoumi, A. Quantum machine learning-driven surrogate modeling for efficient multi-objective optimization of CO₂ storage and geothermal energy extraction. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2025, 18(2): 137-152. https://doi.org/10.46690/ager.2025.11.0
Immiscible fluid displacement: From pore doublets to porous media
Get PDFUnderstanding multiphase flow in porous media is essential for diverse engineering applications, from large-scale carbon geosequestration to small-scale fuel cells. Pore doublet models, despite their geometrical simplicity, offer a powerful framework to study the complex interplay between capillary and viscous forces during multiphase f low. This work revisits some recent advances in the understanding of immiscible fluid displacement processes provided by pore-doublet studies, and highlights their ability to capture key interfacial phenomena such as Haines jumps and to map displacement regimes through phase diagrams. While these models do not capture the full heterogeneity of real porous systems, they often exhibit strong agreement with larger-scale observations. Recent advances in microfluidics fabrication techniques further enhance the capability and efficiency of using pore-doublet models to investigate immiscible displacement processes. Several promising research directions for extending pore-doublet approaches are identified.Document Type: PerspectiveCited as: Wang, Z. Immiscible fluid displacement: From pore doublets to porous media. Capillarity, 2025, 15(1): 1-3. https://doi.org/10.46690/capi.2025.04.0
Modelling spontaneous droplet transport in deformable divergent channels
Get PDFSpontaneous droplet movement has gained increased interest in many applications, including microfluidics and microfabrication. This study focuses on the numerical investigation of driving mechanisms of spontaneous droplet motion. The numerical model using the phasefield method was validated by available experimental data. In this study, a heterogeneous wettability condition is implemented to reproduce contact angle hysteresis for the accurate prediction of spontaneous droplet dynamics. Through analysing the capillary pressure within the droplet, the driving mechanism is identified as being governed by the pressure difference between the two interfaces which depends on channel configuration, wettability, and contact angle hysteresis. The impact of channel deformability was further studied, revealing that channel deformability leads to significant changes in velocity or even reversed droplet movement direction. This study provides a novel numerical framework for controllable spontaneous droplet movement in flexible channels.Document Type: Original articleCited as: Chen, D., Zhong, H., Wang, Z., Suo, S., Wei, D., Gan, Y. Modelling spontaneous droplet transport in deformable divergent channels. Capillarity, 2025, 15(1): 4-11. https://doi.org/10.46690/capi.2025.04.02
Numerical simulation and optimization design of complex underground fracture network
Get PDFUnderstanding the complex behavior of fractured rock systems is critical for applications in energy development, geological sequestration, and tunnel construction. Microscale fracture surface morphology influences flow and mechanical behaviors, while upscaling frameworks. Despite progress in hydro-mechanical and thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling models, two-way mechanical-chemical interactions remain underexplored. Discrete fracture networks offer a robust statistical framework for modeling subsurface fracture systems. Advances in machine learning have accelerated the simulation and optimization of fractured geothermal systems, addressing the computational limitations of high-fidelity models. These methods support multi-objective design, enhance life cycle assessments, and provide insights into optimal geothermal management strategies. Fractured rocks serve as preferential pathways for fluid flow and heat transport, significantly influencing permeability and mechanical stability. However, the inherent complexity of coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical processes in these systems presents major challenges. Nonlinear fracture mechanics, stress perturbations, and chemical interactions drive dynamic changes in fracture connectivity and permeability, further complicated by recursive feedback mechanisms. By integrating numerical tools, machine learning techniques, and advanced discrete fracture network models, the fractured rock system could be optimized and clearly analyzed.Document Type: PerspectiveCited as: Jiang, C., Chen, G., Zhu, W., Liu, J. Numerical simulation and optimization design of complex underground fracture network. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2025, 16(1): 1-3. https://doi.org/10.46690/ager.2025.04.0
New insights on rock alteration by oil: An in-situ investigation at the nano-scale using atomic force microscopy
Get PDFFrom oil-recovery, through environmental remediation of oil spills, to CO2 storage in depleted reservoirs, the alteration of rock by oil is known to impact flow dynamics in porous reservoirs and hence controls the efficiency of reservoir development and environmental remediation projects. Whereas many studies focus either on the adherence of individual oil components in model systems or on the related macro-scale multiphase flow responses, this study investigates nano-scale mechanisms of oil alteration along the internal rock surface providing insights how these length scales interconnect. The use of atomic force microscopy allows to identify the location of oil along the internal rock surface after alteration by oil and after water flooding. The results show a persistence of water films in one out of three crude oils tested. Oil components were observed to adsorb patchy to the rock surface and fluid-fluid interfaces. After the waterflood, oil remains trapped within the roughness of the grain surface. These findings illustrate that underlying assumption of a homogeneous alteration along a grain surface, used for common wettability alteration models are too simplistic and may need adjustments for specific oil-brine-rock systems.Document Type: Original articleCited as: Mosalman, M. K. S., Rückerm, M., Garfi, G., Krevor, S., Georgiadis, A., Luckham, P. F. New insights on rock alteration by oil: An in-situ investigation at the nano-scale using atomic force microscopy. Capillarity, 2025, 17(1): 27-36. https://doi.org/10.46690/capi.2025.10.0