Capillary pinning in sedimentary rocks for CO2 storage: mechanisms, terminology and State-of-the-Art
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Capillary pinning refers to the immobilization of CO₂ at capillary barriers when the uprising CO2 pressure is lower than the capillary entry pressure of the overlaying pore throats. Also known as local capillary trapping, it has been proposed as a fifth geologic CO₂ storage mechanism, alongside structural, solubility, residual, and mineral trapping. Despite extensive research, the fragmented terminology surrounding capillary pinning has led to confusion, making it challenging to synthesize findings effectively. Often conflated with mechanisms such as residual and hysteresis trapping, capillary pinning is commonly underestimated or completely overlooked in reservoir-scale models. Furthermore, difficulties in characterizing and upscaling small-scale geologic heterogeneities that influence capillary pinning contribute to significant uncertainties, with estimates of CO₂ trapped via this mechanism ranging from 3 % to 100 % of total CO₂ trapped via capillary actions. This review explores the fundamental mechanisms, experimental findings, and modeling approaches for assessing CO₂ capillary pinning in carbon capture and storage (CCS). It seeks to bridge the gap between the reservoir engineering community, with its extensive expertise in hydrocarbon recovery but that needs adjustments for CCS applications, and the subsurface storage community, which stands to benefit from this knowledge but often lacks access to relevant literature. Additionally, the study identifies key research opportunities to advance the understanding of capillary pinning in sedimentary rocks, ultimately enhancing the efficacy and reliability of CCS operations.
Date Issued
2025-06-01
Date Acceptance
2025-04-17
Citation
International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 2025, 144
ISSN
1750-5836
Publisher
Elsevier
Journal / Book Title
International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control
Volume
144
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Identifier
10.1016/j.ijggc.2025.104385
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
104385
Date Publish Online
2025-04-28