Numerical Modeling of the Injection of Nanoparticles in Saturated Cementitious Material by Electromigration

Abstract

This paper presents numerical modeling of nanoparticles injected into cementitious material using the electromigration method. In order to remediate leaking wells in CO2 storage formations, beneficial nanoparticles can be injected into the cement. This process can not only repair the leakage and cracks, but also remove harmful ions from the cementitious material. A general framework for numerical modeling is developed to describe the proposed nanoparticle injection technology. This is done with a two-step approach: A model for injecting nanoparticles is developed first, in which an externally applied current on the system is characterized, then simultaneous chloride ion removal is used to calibrate the developed model. The ionic concentration problem in this paper is solved using the Nernst-Planck equation coupled with Poisson’s equation. The general framework uses the finite element method. The results are further compared with an experimental study conducted to prove the effectiveness of this model.