Geoenergy Science and Engineering, Volume 266 (2026)
Abstract
The interfacial interactions among supercritical CO2
, mixed salt solutions, and rock might play a key role in
CO2
sequestration in deep saline aquifers. Molecular dynamics simulations were performed to investigate both
bulk and interfacial behaviors of the CO2+brine (NaCl + KCl and NaCl + CaCl2
) systems with hydrophilic
silica at 323 K, 90 bar, and a total salt content of 5.4 mol/kg. For the CO2+brine (single salt) systems, the
salting-out effect on the dissolved CO2
followed the order: KCl < NaCl < CaCl2
. The interfacial tensions (IFTs)
of these systems showed the same ordering. These results are in line with the order of the hydration energies
of the cations. The computed IFTs of the CO2+brine (NaCl + CaCl2
) systems are qualitatively consistent with
experimental works. An important finding is that at low ionic strengths, the simulated IFTs of the CO2+brine
(mixed salt) systems showed an almost linear dependence on the NaCl concentration. However, at high ionic
strengths, the IFTs exhibited a non-linear relationship with NaCl concentration. Similar trends are also observed
for our IFT results obtained from density gradient theory. Contact angles (CAs) of water in the CO2+brine (mixed
salt)+silica systems are not much affected by the salt type and composition. Overall, the capillary pressure of the
CO2+brine (mixed salt)+silica systems decreases with increasing NaCl concentration. These results can provide
important insights into the capillary force, which acts to restrict the leakage of the stored CO2
through the cap
rock.