Study of CO2 bubble dynamics in seawater from QICS field Experiment

Chen, B.; Dewar, M.; Sellami, N.; Stahl, H.; Blackford, J.

Abstract

One of the concerns of employing CCS at engineering scale is the risk of leakage of storage CO2 on the environment and especially on the marine life. QICS, a scientific research project was launched with an aim to study the effects of a potential leak from a CCS system on the UK marine environment [1]. The project involves the injection of CO2 from a shore-based lab into shallow marine sediments. One of the main objectives of the project is to generate experimental data to be compared with the developed physical models. The results of the models are vital for the biogeochemical and ecological models in order to predict the impact of a CO2 leak in a variety of situations. For the evaluation of the fate of the CO2 bubbles into the surrounding seawater, the physical model requires two key parameters to be used as input which are: (i) a correlation of the drag coefficient as function of the CO2 bubble Reynolds number and (ii) the CO2 bubble size distribution. By precisely measuring the CO2 bubble size and rising speed, these two parameters can be established. For this purpose, the dynamical characteristics of the rising CO2 bubbles in Scottish seawater were investigated experimentally within the QICS project. Observations of the CO2 bubbles plume rising freely in the in seawater column were captured by video survey using a ruler positioned at the leakage pockmark as dimension reference. This observation made it possible, for the first time, to discuss the dynamics of the CO2 bubbles released in seawater. [1] QICS, QICS: Quantifying and Monitoring Potential Ecosystem Impacts of Geological Carbon Storage.

Citation

Chen, B., Dewar, M., Sellami, N., Stahl, H., & Blackford, J. (2013). Study of CO2 bubble dynamics in seawater from QICS field Experiment. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts (OS12A-06)

• Conference Name: AGU Fall Meeting 2013
• Conference Location: San Francisco, US
• Start Date: Dec 9, 2013
• End Date: Dec 13, 2013
• Publication Date: 2013
• Deposit Date: Dec 21, 2021
• Volume: 2013
• Pages: OS12A-06
• Book Title: AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/2818535