Review on Multiscale CO2 Mineralization and Geological Storage: Mechanisms, Characterization, Modeling, Applications and Perspectives

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology has shown rapid development in recent years as an important technology to reduce carbon emissions, of which CO2 geological storage is an important part. Due to the complexity of CO2 geological storage, especially the long period of mineralization storage, intensive studies have been conducted to reveal the mechanism of mineralization storage. This review presents a comprehensive understanding of the mineralization storage mechanism and its application prospects by introducing various experimental tools to deepen the characterization of pore-scale and core-scale changes during mineralization storage and promote the application of mineralization storage in large-scale carbon storage studies through geochemical simulations and field-scale demonstrations. This review summarizes representative multiscale studies of mineralization storage in typical reservoirs. The main findings are as follows: (1) For CO2–water–rock reactions, in addition to the influence of the inherent inhomogeneity of reservoir rocks (properties of mineral components, etc.), the environmental conditions of the reservoir (pH, temperature, pressure, etc.) have a strong influence on the dissolution and precipitation processes during mineralized storage. (2) The mineralization sealing process is accompanied by a complex evolution of pore-permeability properties. The mineral dissolution stage causes an increase in pore space and significantly improves the fluid injection capacity, while the mineral reprecipitation process causes problems such as pore throat blockage, which often affects the safety of sealing. (3) The modeling approach, combined with laboratory work, allows for large-scale and time-scale predictions. In addition, the current implementation of successful demonstration projects is summarized to promote the use of CO2 storage in field engineering applications. Finally, directions for future development and research are proposed.