Fabrication of kaolin-based cement plug for CO2 storage wells

A new material from clay was developed that has a resistance to carbon dioxide flow in upstream for plugging CO2 storage wells. Thermogravimetric and thermal stability of this material showed a minimal variation in weight loss with incremental heating up to 420 °C. Adsorption-desorption of CO2 at various modeled temperature showed an exothermic and spontaneous process with maximum adsorption capacity of 775 mg/g obtained at 640 psi (43.5 bar) and 50 °C. Higher pressure led to more storage capacity with physisorption hysteresis curves. Freundlich and BET models best fit the equilibrium adsorption data with average regression coefficient of 0.995. The new material can substitute the conventional cement plugs for upstream carbon sequestration and prevents the migration of the stored CO2 through the cement plug to the surface. Also the developed new cement showed no chemical interaction which confirms the economical impact of using this cement to plug the CO2 sequestrations wells.