Date of Award

May 2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Energy Engineering

First Advisor

Olusegun S. Tomomewo

Abstract

Geological carbon sequestration in deep saline aquifers is widely regarded as a critical technology for mitigating anthropogenic CO₂ emissions. This dissertation presents a formation-specific, kinetically constrained reactive transport modelling study of CO₂ storage performance in the Broom Creek Formation, a quartz- and feldspar-dominated saline aquifer in the Williston Basin, North Dakota.

A high-resolution geological model was constructed in Petrel using well logs, well tops, and Sorensen’s permeability correlation, then exported via RESCUE file into CMG GEM for dynamic reactive transport simulation. The base-case scenario involved injection of CO₂ at 15 MMScf/day for one year, followed by 199 years of post-injection monitoring under reservoir conditions (approximately 3,440 psi and 60 °C). The results demonstrate that within the 200-year timeframe, stratigraphic trapping dominates (72.38 %), followed by solubility trapping (18.54 %) driven by density-driven convective mixing, residual trapping (8.69 %), and mineral trapping (0.38 %).

The study reveals that the Broom Creek Formation’s quartz-feldspar-rich mineralogy results in a dissolution-dominated regime in the short to medium term, shifting reliance onto physical and solubility trapping mechanisms for containment. Stratigraphic layering exerts strong control on reaction front propagation and spatial heterogeneity of mineral alteration.This research advances understanding of CO₂ storage in siliciclastic saline aquifers by demonstrating the importance of formation-specific mineralogy and kinetic constraints in performance prediction. The findings provide valuable insights for project design, risk assessment, and monitoring strategies for potential large-scale CO₂ storage initiatives in the Williston Basin and similar quartz-rich formations worldwide.

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