Use of tracers to characterize the effects of a CO2-saturated brine on the petrophysical properties of a low permeability carbonate caprock

To assess the long-term safety of a geological carbon dioxide storage site, the confining properties of the rocks sealing an underground reservoir (caprocks) and their evolution inthe presence of CO2 must be characterized. The present study consists in the measurement of the transport parameters of dissolved CO2 through low permeability carbonate-rich caprocks. The properties of interest are the effective permeability and the diffusion coefficients of carbon dioxide dissolution products in water. The impact of carbon dioxide has been evaluated when altering rock samples by diffusion of a CO2-saturated brine under reservoir thermodynamic conditions, and by comparison of the pre- and post-alteration measured values. Permeability was measured by a gas-tracing method and, to study diffusion, radioactive isotopes of carbon (14C) and hydrogen (3H) were used. Despite a porosity increase observed for all the studied samples, the low values of transport parameters, measured initially, were also measured after alteration, showing a non-catastrophic alteration of the material.