Basalt has been identified as an important host material for geological sequestration of CO2 through mineralization. Previous studies have determined that injected CO2 is rapidly converted to stable carbonate minerals. Additionally, carbon sequestration paired with in situ extraction of critical materials (such as Ni, Co, etc.) has been proposed to mitigate emissions associating with the critical material mining industry. Characterizing the mechanistic processes for mineral dissolution, carbonate precipitation, and the fate of these critical materials is challenging and fundamental lab-scale studies must be performed. Here, a quantitative understanding of the composition of Columbia River Basalt (CRB) was obtained to determine abundances of major carbonate forming cations and critical materials. Following a full compositional understanding of unreacted material, the release rates for these, and other major constituents, were determined for the CRB under mildly acidic conditions in both static and single-pass flow-through configurations. The release rates and dissolution kinetics can then be related to the carbonate mineralization rates of CRB. Additionally, determining release rates of critical materials from CRB allows for further evaluation of the feasibility of in situ critical material extraction during carbon sequestration. Basalt dissolution kinetics as a function of temperature and pH were also determined for a suite of basalt samples from South Africa, India, and the United States to place the CRB results in a global context of reactive mafic targets for carbon mineralization.

Kinetics of Columbia river basalt dissolution with application to geological CO2 sequestration

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