Understanding the fate of H2S injected in basalts by means of
time-domain induced polarization geophysical logging
Abstract
To help meet emission standards, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from geothermal
production may be injected back into the subsurface, where basalt
offers, in theory, the capacity to mineralize H2S into pyrite. Ensuring
the viability of this pollution mitigation technology requires
information on how much H2S is mineralized, at what rate and where. To
date, monitoring efforts of field-scale H2S reinjection have mostly
occurred via mass balance calculations, typically capturing less than
5\% of the injected fluid. While these studies, along
with laboratory experiments and geochemical models, conclude effective
H2S mineralization, their extrapolation to quantify mineralization and
its persistence over time leads to considerable uncertainty. Here, a
geophysical methodology, using time-domain induced polarization (TDIP)
logging in two of the injection wells (NN3 and NN4), is developed to
follow the fate of H2S re-injected at Nesjavellir geothermal site in
south-west Iceland. Results show a strong chargeability increase at +40
days, corresponding to precipitation of up to 1\% in NN4
and 2\% in NN3 according to laboratory-based
relationships. A uniform increase is observed along NN4, whereas it is
localized below 450 in NN3. Changes are more pronounced with the larger
electrode spacing, indicating that pyrite precipitation takes place away
from the wells. Furthermore, a chargeability decrease is observed at
later monitoring rounds in both wells, suggesting that pyrite is either
passivated or re-dissolved after precipitating. These results highlight
the ability of TDIP logging to monitor pyrite mineralization and have
implications for understanding the fate of H2S upon subsurface storage
in basaltic environments.