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Nooraiepour, Mohammad; Masoudi, Mohammad & Hellevang, Helge
(2023).
CO2-induced mineralization in porous reactive system: Implications for mineral precipitation and growth in basaltic layers.
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Masoudi, Mohammad & Hellevang, Helge
(2023).
Near injector salt scale buildup in CCS due to CO2 plume drying of aquifer.
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Masoudi, Mohammad; Ahmed, Elyes; Raynaud, Xavier Marcel & Hellevang, Helge
(2023).
Is salt precipitation an issue during geological storage of hydrogen in saline aquifers? from thermodynamic perspective using PC-SAFT EoS.
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Nooraiepour, Mohammad; Masoudi, Mohammad & Hellevang, Helge
(2023).
Predictive modeling of reactive transport processes during CO2 sequestration: Geometry alteration induced by mineral dissolution and precipitation.
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Nooraiepour, Mohammad; Masoudi, Mohammad & Hellevang, Helge
(2023).
Nucleation and mineral precipitation during reactive flow and transport: I nsights into porous media geometry alteration.
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Masoudi, Mohammad; Nooraiepour, Mohammad & Hellevang, Helge
(2023).
How does probabilistic nucleation control the spatiotemporal distribution of minerals in porous media?
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Masoudi, Mohammad; Nooraiepour, Mohammad & Hellevang, Helge
(2023).
Assessment of hydrogen uptake ability of clay-rich caprocks.
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Nooraiepour, Mohammad; Masoudi, Mohammad & Hellevang, Helge
(2023).
How probabilistic nucleation controls spatiotemporal dynamics and dimensionality of mineral growth in porous media?
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Nooraiepour, Mohammad; Masoudi, Mohammad & Hellevang, Helge
(2023).
Pore-scale investigation into dynamics of salt crystal nucleation, precipitation and growth in porous media during CO2 sequestration in saline aquifers Content.
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Nooraiepour, Mohammad; Masoudi, Mohammad & Hellevang, Helge
(2022).
Reactive transport in porous media: How solid precipitation shapes geometry evolution?
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Ahmadigoltapeh, Sajjad; Miri, Rohaldin; Aagaard, Per & Hellevang, Helge
(2022).
Corrigendum to “Extension of SAFT equation of state for fluids confined in nano-pores of sedimentary rocks using molecular dynamic simulation” [J. Mol. Liquids (348) (2022) 118045] (Journal of Molecular Liquids (2022) 348, (S0167732221027707), (10.1016/j.molliq.2021.118045)).
Journal of Molecular Liquids.
ISSN 0167-7322.
367.
doi:
10.1016/j.molliq.2022.120440.
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Hellevang, Helge; Masoudi, Mohammad & Nooraiepour, Mohammad
(2022).
To what degree can the spatial distribution of secondary minerals in porous media be determined?
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Nooraiepour, Mohammad; Masoudi, Mohammad & Hellevang, Helge
(2022).
new probabilistic framework for nucleation and mineral growth in porous media helps bridge between different
spatial and temporal scales— Theory, experiments and simulations.
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Masoudi, Mohammad; Nooraiepour, Mohammad & Hellevang, Helge
(2022).
How the Probabilistic Nature of the Nucleation Process Affects and Controls the Distribution of Mineral Precipitates in Porous Media.
Show summary
Nucleation and growth of secondary mineral phases is of great importance in a variety of processes in different fields. Mineral precipitation alters the morphology and hydrodynamics of the porous media by blocking the pore and throats and changing the tortuosity and permeability of flow paths. Even reaction rates are affected by the reshaping of available reactive surfaces. Any mineral precipitation process begins with the nucleation, which is a probabilistic phenomenon. It is often overlooked in studying the reactive transport phenomena. Nucleation controls the location and timing of crystal formation in a porous structure. The spatial distribution of stable secondary nuclei is crucial to precisely predict the hydrodynamics of the porous medium after mineral precipitation. Thus, a deeper understanding of the mineral nucleation and growth process is essential and it is necessary to develop a new probabilistic nucleation approach that could produce more reliable results. Accordingly, we have developed a new probabilistic nucleation model and incorporated it into a pore-scale Lattice Boltzmann reactive transport model to investigate the effect of various factors such as saturation ratio, flow rate, temperature, interfacial free energy, nucleation rate, and growth rates on the distribution of precipitated secondary minerals. In our model, the probabilistic induction time statistically spreads around the measured or reported induction time, either obtained from experiments or approximated by the exponential nucleation rate equation suggested by the classical nucleation theory (CNT). We provide a detailed explanation on how to implement the developed probabilistic nucleation approach into pore-scale reactive transport models. We also gave a thorough description of each parameter of the probabilistic nucleation model and how to measure or calculate them for different fluid and rock systems. Additionally, we used a new approach to measure the disorder of the spatial mineral distributions. The developed models provide new insights into the spatiotemporal evolution of porous media during mineral precipitation. Furthermore, the outcomes provide the basis for implementing mineral nucleation and growth for reactive transport modeling across timescales and length-scales.
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Nooraiepour, Mohammad; Masoudi, Mohammad; Shokri, Nima & Hellevang, Helge
(2022).
Heterogeneous nucleation and precipitation on solid surfaces: Experimental observation of calcium carbonate formation on primary and secondary substrates.
Show summary
Mineral nucleation and growth are prime examples of (geo)chemical reactions giving rise to geometry evolution during reactive flow and transport in porous media. The precipitation reactions can reduce porosity, alter pore space connectivity and morphology, modify tortuosity, and deteriorate permeability. Therefore, change the fluid flow and solute transport. Additionally, precipitation reshapes the available surface area for growth, leading to changes in the system's reactivity, reaction progress, and reaction rates. As the probabilistic nucle-ation model highlights, it is necessary to delineate both amount and location of nucleation and precipitation events in the spatiotemporal domain for precise prediction of changes in transport properties. This work aims to improve the understanding of factors controlling crystal nucleation and growth rates, the impact of ambient and aqueous phase properties, and the substrate characteristics. To explore the effect of solute concentration, temperature, and experimental elapsed time on the surface coverage area and the number of precipitated crystals , we carried out a total of 27 mineral synthesis experiments on the surface of heterogeneous quartz-rich sandstone with a solution stoichiometry of close to 1 (Ca/CO3 ≈ 1). The tests were performed at three temperatures (T = 20, 40, and 60℃) and three supersaturations (Ω = 15, 50, and 130x). The principal objective was to evaluate solid formation at different controlling conditions when the solid-liquid interface plays a key role. Effects of primary and secondary substrates and control imposed by preferential precipitation locations are identified and discussed. The results indicate that supersaturation and temperature imposed control on the amount, distribution pattern, and growth rate of crystals while the phenomenon still being probabilistic. Substrate characteristics governed the nucleation and crystal growth location and stochastic dynamics across time and space evolution. Moreover, substrate surface properties introduced preferential sites that were occupied and covered with solids first. For reactive transport modeling, in addition to porous medium's geometry and aqueous phase properties, a stochastic nucleation and growth model is necessary to implement substrate surface properties and compute solute transport and fluid flow for different spatial and temporal locations distinctively.
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Masoudi, Mohammad; Nooraiepour, Mohammad & Hellevang, Helge
(2022).
On the effect of probabilistic nucleation on the distribution of mineral precipitates in porous media.
EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts.
doi:
10.5194/egusphere-egu22-8398.
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Nooraiepour, Mohammad & Hellevang, Helge
(2021).
Solid and Salt Precipitation Kinetics during CO2 Injection into Reservoir.
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Nooraiepour, Mohammad & Hellevang, Helge
(2021).
Coupled THMC processes during subsurface CO2 injection.
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Masoudi, Mohammad; Fazeli, Hossein; Miri, Rohaldin & Hellevang, Helge
(2021).
Toward Probabilistic Modeling of Halite Nucleation and Growth
during Carbon Storage Process: Pore Scale Modeling .
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Masoudi, Mohammad; Parvin, Saeed; Miri, Rohaldin; Kord, Shahin & Hellevang, Helge
(2021).
Implementation of PC-SAFT Equation of State into MRST Compositional for Modelling of Asphaltene Precipitation.
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Sundal, Anja; Meneguolo, Renata & Hellevang, Helge
(2021).
CO2 storage – dynamic trapping mechanisms due to mineralization. .
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Ahmadigoltapeh, Sajjad; Abdolahi, Saeed; Miri, Rohaldin & Hellevang, Helge
(2021).
Extension of SAFT equation of state to include calcite wall effect in water properties within water-calcite interface using molecular dynamic simulations.
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Sundal, Anja; Meneguolo, Renata; Kruber, Claudia; Olsen, Elin & Hellevang, Helge
(2021).
Geological site assessment: geochemical review of the Aurora Storage Complex, Northern Lights project, North Sea.
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Masoudi, Mohammad; Nooraiepour, Mohammad; Berntsen, Andreas Nicolas & Hellevang, Helge
(2021).
A new probabilistic nucleation model to predict crystal growth in porous medium.
Show summary
A new probabilistic nucleation model to predict crystal growth in porous medium Tuesday, 1 June 2021 15:10 (15 minutes) Nucleation is the first step of any mineral precipitation and crystal growth process. It is often overlooked in studying the reactive transport phenomena. Nucleation controls the location and timing of crystal formation in a porous structure. The spatial distribution of stable secondary nuclei is crucial to predict hydrodynam-ics of the porous medium after mineral precipitation precisely. To better understand the nucleation process, we developed a new probabilistic nucleation approach in which the induction time is considered a random variable. The random induction time statistically spreads around the measured or reported induction time, either obtained from experiments or approximated by the exponential nucleation rate equation suggested by the classical nucleation theory. In this work, we utilized inputs from the classical nucleation theory. In our model, both location and time of nucleation are probabilistic, affecting transport properties in different time-and length-scales. We developed a pore-scale Lattice Boltzmann reactive transport model and implemented the new probabilistic nucleation model to investigate the effect of nucleation rate and reaction rate on the extent, distribution, and precipitation pattern of the solid phases. The simulation domain is a 2D substrate with an infinite source of the supersaturated solution. We use Shannon entropy to measure the disorder of the spatial mineral distributions. The results of the simulations show that all the reactions follow similar random behavior with different Gauss-Laplace distributions. The simulation scenarios start from a fully ordered system with no solid precipitation on the substrate (entropy of 0). Entropy starts to increase as the secondary phase precipitates and grows on the surface until it reaches its maximum value (entropy of 1). Afterward, the overall disorder declines as more surface areas are getting covered, and eventually, entropy approaches a constant value. The research results indicate that the slower reactions have longer windows of the probabilistic regime before entering the deterministic regime. The outcomes provide the basis for implementing mineral nucleation and growth for reactive transport modeling across timescales and length-scales.
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Nooraiepour, Mohammad; Masoudi, Mohammad; Fazeli, Hossein & Hellevang, Helge
(2021).
Geometry evolution and fracture alteration controlled by spatial mineral heterogeneity during CO2 sequestration -A reactive transport study.
Show summary
Geological CO2 storage and CCS have a crucial role in reducing CO2 emission and therefore mitigating climate change. One of the prerequisites for selecting CO2 storage sites is a low permeability caprock preventing potential CO2 leakage and migration from the storage reservoir. The presence of fractures in the caprock can adversely affect the sealing capacity of caprocks. Chemical interactions between CO2, brine, and caprock-forming minerals can cause fracture evolution, which results in changes in the transmissivity of fractures within the sealing layers. One factor that can affect the chemically induced fracture alterations is mineral het-erogeneity in the caprock. In the present work, we investigate the effect of mineral heterogeneity on fracture geometry evolution when CO2-rich brine flows through a single fracture scribed on different carbonate-rich caprock samples. The rock samples have different carbonate contents and different levels of mineral hetero-geneities. They can represent carbonate-rich caprocks such as some intervals of the Upper Jurassic (Kimmerid-gian) Draupne shales, the caprock for Smeaheia CO2 storage in Norway. An HPHT geomaterial microfluidic experimental setup is used to monitor the evolution of the fractures. Results indicate that the homogeneous caprock samples, i.e., the samples mainly composed of calcite, show a uniform fracture wall dissolution while fracture wall roughness increases for heterogeneous samples. The effluent chemistry analyses show that the sample-scale calcite dissolution rate decreases over time, which can be due to the mass transfer limitations in the boundary layer near the fracture wall (for the homogeneous sample) or the altered layer formed around the fracture (for the heterogeneous samples). Microfluidic experiments were also done for one carbonate-rich fine-grained shale sample, which showed dissolution of calcite with no macroscopic fracture alteration during the ten-day experiment. This indicates that in shale samples where the carbonate minerals, mainly calcite, are armored with other slow reacting minerals such as clays, the rate of fracture geometry evolution will be prolonged, which might be a positive point for the caprock integrity. However, the confirmed fluid-rock geochemical interactions within the shaly sample in a short time frame call for further investigations on the consequent impacts on caprock samples' geomechanical-hydrological properties for more extended periods relevant for subsurface CO2 storage. The microfluidic experiments are also used to validate a reactive transport model. The model will then be utilized to study changes in transport properties of different samples during experiments. The LBM-based model outputs, such as porosity-permeability relationships, can inform reactive models at larger scales to develop a better predictive numerical simulator for processes involved in CO2 storage projects.
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Haile, Beyene Girma; Line, Lina Hedvig; Klausen, Tore Grane; Olaussen, Snorre; Eide, Christian Haug & Jahren, Jens
[Show all 7 contributors for this article]
(2021).
Identifying and constraining sedimentary recycling from microscopic fluid inclusions in quartz overgrowth.
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Nooraiepour, Mohammad & Hellevang, Helge
(2020).
Solid precipitation in porous reservoir rocks near the injection well: State of the art.
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Hellevang, Helge; Nooraiepour, Mohammad; Masoudi, Mohammad & Fazeli, Hossein
(2020).
Statistical Model for Mineral Nucleation and Growth.
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Masoudi, Mohammad; Fazeli, Hossein; Miri, Rohaldin & Hellevang, Helge
(2020).
Probabilistic Modeling of Halite Nucleation and Growth in Porous Media: Pore Scale Modeling.
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Masoudi, Mohammad; Parvin, Saeed; Miri, Rohaldin & Hellevang, Helge
(2020).
Implementation of ePc-SAFT Equation of State into MRST Compositional for Modelling of Salt Precipitation during CO2 Storage in Saline Aquifers.
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Weber, Ulrich Wolfgang; Sundal, Anja; Hellevang, Helge & Kipfer, Rolf
(2020).
Experiences from the ICO2P Project applied to Migration Monitoring of Injected CO2.
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Nooraiepour, Mohammad; Fazeli, Hossein; Miri, Rohaldin & Hellevang, Helge
(2019).
Formation dry-out and salt precipitation in porous and fractured media: Laboratory insights on physics and dynamics of CO2-induced halite accumulations.
Show summary
We have conducted a series of microfluidic experiments on the glass and geomaterial micromodels at ambient and HPHT conditions to investigate physics and dynamics of salt precipitation, governing mechanisms, and influencing factors. We have shown that the trapped water films in porous or fractured media have enough continuity and conductivity to transport residual brine to an evaporating front, and cause an increase in the rate and amount of precipitated halite crystals. The pressure gradient imposed by capillary-back flow and imbibition processes can produce significant conductivity and stability of the water films. Laboratory observations suggest that the salt precipitation during CO2 injection is a time-evolving and self-enhancing phenomenon which has the following characteristics: (a) in addition to the aqueous phase, salt crystals can precipitate and grow on the interface of rock and CO2 flow pathway. (b) salt crystals are covered with a thin water film of brine that is attracted by surface energy effects and hydrophilic nature of salt crystals. (c) micrometer-sized salts have a porous structure of densely precipitated aggregates with narrow pore throats between the crystals, which provides a potentially large capillarity to the salt aggregates to imbibe water over long distances. (d) micrometer-sized crystals that precipitate on the interface of solid and CO2 stream enhance the distribution of brine, increase the surface area for evaporation and growth, and hence, accelerate the evaporation rate. (e) evaporation, precipitation, and growth of salt bodies induce further nucleation and precipitation, which in turn contributes to an increase in capillary transport and suction. The results also indicate that CO2 phase states and pressure-temperature conditions govern the magnitude, distribution and precipitation patterns of salt precipitates. Injection of gaseous CO2 resulted in higher salt precipitation compared to liquid and supercritical CO2. The thermodynamic conditions influence salt precipitation via water solubility in CO2, maximum water flux into CO2 stream, and balance between the imposed viscous forces and capillary-driven backflow. The CO2 phase states also affect the relationship between the injection rate and extent of precipitated salts. It is shown the higher the injection flow rate, the lower the salt coverage. A conceptual framework was introduced that suggests salt precipitation may be not only a near-well phenomenon but also a sealing mechanism that can impede CO2 leakage from fracture networks. The research outcome highlights the mechanisms and processes that are crucial to consider during the investigation of salt precipitation induced by CO2 injection because it has implications for both injectivity and containment assessments. For a better reservoir-scale numerical modeling, such mechanisms need to be incorporated and scaled-up in the reservoir simulator. The present approach for modeling salt precipitation using the volumetric approach in the reservoir-scale numerical simulator may not reflect the required physics for investigation of salt precipitation induced by CO2 injection.
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Hellevang, Helge; Nooraiepour, Mohammad & Fazeli, Hossein
(2018).
CO2-H2O-basalt interactions – reactive transport experiments and simulations
.
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Nooraiepour, Mohammad; Soldal, Magnus; Park, Joonsang; Mondol, Nazmul Haque; Hellevang, Helge & Bohloli, Bahman
(2018).
Geophysical Monitoring of Gaseous and Supercritical CO2 Fracture Flow Through a Brine-Saturated Shale Caprock.
Show summary
Pre-existing and induced fractures and faults can play a role as bypass conduits and fast leaking channels in CO2 storage sites. They should therefore be well characterized during site selection, and monitored thoroughly during operation to track the movement and fate of the CO2 plume. Despite to date extensive research on the geophysical properties of brine- and CO2-saturated porous reservoir rocks, changes in acoustic velocity and electrical resistivity during a sole fracture fluid displacement are, however, rather little investigated. Hence, we herein present a laboratory study of core-scale geophysical monitoring during drainage-imbibition cycles of the brine-CO2 system through a shale caprock core sample with a vertical fracture. The experiments were conducted using both gaseous and scCO2 with 4 and 9 MPa pore pressures, respectively, at 12 MPa confining pressure. The tests were performed at 40°C during the loading and unloading stages in order to look into the hysteresis effect. We used a fractured core sample from the Upper Jurassic organic-rich shales of the Draupne Formation, which is the primary caprock for the Smeaheia CO2 storage site – a full-scale CCS project in Norway. The primary objective of the experiment was to compare the geophysical measurements using gaseous and scCO2 drainage-imbibition cycles during the tests in a core-scale experiment. Moreover, we were interested to see how sensitive acoustic velocity and electrical resistance techniques are to the fracture fluid displacement using different CO2 phase states. The outcomes of our high-pressure high-temperature experiment of simultaneous measurements of fracture flow and geophysical properties indicate that potential leakage of injected CO2 through the fractured-shale caprock can be detected in the core-scale laboratory experiments. The performed drainage-imbibition cycles using gaseous and scCO2 resulted in different behaviors in P-wave velocity (Vp) and electrical resistance in axial and radial directions for these two phase states. The measured Vp during the displacement of fracture fluid, CO2-brine subsequent cycles, showed a limited sensitivity in terms of magnitude and relative change. The electrical resistance, on the other hand, shows higher sensitivity and larger variation during fluid displacement along the fracture. It was also observed that the crossplot of Vp versus electrical resistance could detect and even differentiate the different phases during the loading and unloading stages.
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Nooraiepour, Mohammad; Fazeli, Hossein; Miri, Rohaldin & Hellevang, Helge
(2018).
Salt Precipitation During Injection of CO2 into Saline Aquifers: Lab-on-Chip Experiments on Glass and Geomaterial Microfluidic Specimens.
Show summary
In a full-scale CCS, millions of tons of CO2 must be stored underground. Injection of dry or undersaturated (with respect to water) CO2 leads to dry-out of formation water and salt precipitation. Salt precipitation during CO2 injection into the geological formations causes reduced injectivity and negatively influences reservoir rock properties. It also may have the potential to block CO2 leakage pathways within the fractured caprocks. The present-day reservoir-scale models of salt precipitation consider mechanisms such as water evaporation into CO2 and capillary backflow of water into the dried zone. However, it has been suggested that salt precipitation due to these mechanisms fills only a fraction of the pore network and does not significantly impact the permeability. We report microfluidic experiments on glass-microchips and organic-rich shale specimens to provide insights into the physics and dynamics of salt precipitation at pore-scale and to find the possible explanations for the large-scale salt precipitation observed in the field operations. Moreover, we investigate whether salt crystals can partially or entirely clog fracture apertures and leaking pathways in the seal sequences. The experimental results introduce two interrelated phenomena –self-enhancing of salt growth and water film salt transport, which together remarkably intensify the rate and amount of precipitations. It is shown that salt crystals, although at different rates, grow in both aqueous and gas phases. The salt crystals precipitate in two distinct forms: (a) large single cubic halite crystals in the aqueous phase and (b) dense micrometer-sized halite crystals on the interface of rock and CO2 stream. The micrometer-sized crystals in the gas phase create a microporous medium with large capillarity that can strongly imbibe brine over long distances to the evaporation front via capillary connected water films. It is demonstrated that the CO2 phase states influence magnitude, distribution and precipitation patterns of salt accumulations.
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Nooraiepour, Mohammad; Fazeli, Hossein & Hellevang, Helge
(2018).
Brine-CO2-Rock Geochemical Interactions: A novel HPHT microfluidic pressure vessel for lab-on-chip investigations.
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Sacco, Tatiana; Sundal, Anja & Hellevang, Helge
(2018).
Mass estimation of CO2 trapping potential in the Smeaheia reservoir.
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Hellevang, Helge; Miri, Rohaldin & Masoudi, Mohammad
(2021).
Near Wellbore Processes during Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS): An Integrated Modeling Approach.
Universitetet i Oslo.
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Sundal, Anja; Hellevang, Helge & Sacco, Tatiana
(2018).
CO2 trapping in the Smeaheia reservoir - time mass estimation using geochemical models.
Universitetet i Oslo.