Investigations on Behavior of Carbon-bearing Fluids Under Nanopore Confinement
EMSL Project ID
48394
Abstract
The overarching goal of this proposal is to obtain deeper insight into the behavior of low viscous energy resource fluids under confinement at solid interfaces. To achieve this goal we will (a) assess the behavior of methane and volatile hydrocarbons (and their mixtures) in a variety of natural and engineered porous materials with nanometer-scale interlayer space or pores, (b) analyze behavior of methane and volatile hydrocarbons on substrates with and without H2O present at relevant P-T-x conditions, and (c) utilize molecular-level modeling to interpret the experimental data and predict fluid behavior beyond the limits of current experimental capability. We propose to use EMSL's solid-state MAS NMR to characterize both engineered and natural subsurface energy model systems. Different NMR measurements such as "surface enhanced" cross-polarization will be employed to explore possible pore-wall and surface chemical heterogeneities (e.g., hydroxyls) that may be akin to natural substrates. In addition, EMSL's world-class high-pressure MAS NMR will be utilized to analyze interactions of methane, ethane and propane under confinement in nanoporous silica and natural clays as a function of pressure (density) and temperature. PFG NMR will also be employed to focus on the diffusion behavior of confined low viscous fluids such as water in mixtures with both porous silica systems and natural clays. We propose to insert a pressurized rotor into the PFG probe for possible diffusion measurements at elevated pressures. Pore sizes of the host materials will range between 15 and 40 A. The use of these types of materials is justified because shales and mudstones that comprise the majority of source/reservoir rocks encountered in shale gas deposits exhibit pore sizes ranging from a few nm to 100 nm with surface chemistries dominated by quartz (up to 40%), hydrous aluminosilicates (various clays) and organic carbon (Cole et al., 2010). This team effort is linked to complementary neutron scattering experiments (quasielastic; inelastic, small angle) conducted at ORNL/SNS/HFIR and to a MD effort through our DoE BES collaboration with Prof. Alberto Striolo at University College London.
Project Details
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Start Date
2014-10-01
End Date
2015-09-30
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Team Members
Related Publications
Ok S, DW Hoyt, A Andersen, J Sheets, S Welch, DR Cole, KT Mueller, and NM Washton. 2017. "Surface Interactions and Confinement of Methane: A High Pressure Magic Angle Spinning NMR and Computational Chemistry Study." Langmuir 33(6):1359-1367. doi:10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b03590