Geochemistry

Geochemistry

The geochemistry research group lead by Prof. Ralf Haese undertakes experiments and geochemical modelling with the aim to better understand fluid – rock reactions and respective changes in water quality under CO2 storage conditions and to develop geochemical procedures and technologies to inject and store CO2 safely and more efficiently. We determine the mineral composition and the effective surface area of minerals and use those properties in reactive-transport models. Geochemical modelling is carried out at reservoir, near-wellbore, core and pore scale. Our experimental laboratory is dedicated to study fluid flow and geochemical processes under reservoir conditions and includes two batch reactors to study rates of geochemical reactions and two core flood facilities to study the impact of geochemical reactions on permeability. The analytical laboratory is equipped with water analysers (ICP-OES, IC, UV-vis), a gas analyser (gas-MS) and a microCT analyser determining the pore network geometry. We use a range of geochemical modelling software including GWB™, PhreeqC, TOUGHREACT and COMSOL™CFD coupled to PhreeqC.