Experimental Methods and Imaging for Enzymatically Induced Calcite
Precipitation in a micro-fluidic cell
Abstract
Enzymatically Induced Calcite Precipitation (EICP) in porous media can
be used as an engineering option to achieve targeted precipitation in
the pore space, e.g. with the aim to seal flow paths. This is
accomplished through an alteration of porosity and, consequently,
permeability. A major source of uncertainty in modelling EICP is in the
quantitative description of permeability alteration due to
precipitation. This study investigates experimentally the time-resolved
effects of growing precipitates on porosity and permeability on the pore
scale in a PDMS-based micro-fluidic flow cell. The experimental methods
are explained; these include the design and construction of the
micro-fluidic cells, the preparation and usage of the chemical
solutions, including the injection strategy, and the monitoring of
pressure drops at given flux rates to conclude on permeability. Imaging
methods are explained with application to EICP, including optical
microscopy and X-Ray micro-Computed Tomography (XRCT) and the
corresponding image processing and analysis. We present and discuss
detailed experimental results for one particular micro-fluidic set-up as
well as the general perspectives for further experimental and numerical
simulation studies on induced calcite precipitation. The results of the
study show the enormous benefits and insights of combining both light
microscopy and XRCT with hydraulic measurements in micro-fluidic
devices. This allows for a quantitative analysis of the evolution of
precipitates with respect to their size and shape, while monitoring the
influence on permeability. We can demonstrate that we improved the
interpretation of monitored flow data dependent on changes in pore
morphology.