Numerical Modeling of Nanoparticle Injection and Ionic Removal for Cementitious Materials
Publication: Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 149, Issue 12
Abstract
Recently, nanoparticle injection technology has been developed for the remediating and repairing cracks in wellbore systems that can be used for underground storage. The repair technology can seal the cracks and prevent the from leaking. In this work, a numerical model was developed to simulate the coupling effects among various ions in pore solution of well cement used in underground wellbore systems as well as the injection of nanoparticles during the leak repairing process in boreholes. Two main governing equations, the Nernst–Planck and Poisson’s equations, were used to derive the transport and migration of ions driven by external current in the pore solution. The governing equations were solved using the finite element method based on the multiphysics object-oriented simulation environment (MOOSE) framework. The concentration profiles of the ions in well cement were obtained at different times and depths. The nanoparticle injection process was simulated with the appearance of five different ions in the solution of well cement. The effect of the external current for penetration of nanoparticles into the cement was captured.
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Data Availability Statement
All data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the University of Colorado Boulder for the support provided for this work. Also, authors wish to acknowledge the financial support of the USDOE project, Nanoparticle Injection Technology for Remediating Leaks of Storage Formation, DE-FE0026514. In addition, support by the USDOE under Award DE-NE0008438 and subaward No. R-16-0020 to University of Colorado at Boulder is gratefully acknowledged. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions presented in this paper belong solely to the authors.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 149 • Issue 12 • December 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 25, 2022
Accepted: Aug 1, 2023
Published online: Sep 28, 2023
Published in print: Dec 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Feb 28, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- [Inorganic compounds]
- Buildings
- Carbon compounds
- Carbon dioxide
- Cement
- Chemicals
- Chemistry
- Concrete
- Continuum mechanics
- Cracking
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Engineering mechanics
- Environmental engineering
- Facilities (by type)
- Fracture mechanics
- Groundwater
- Injection wells
- Material mechanics
- Materials engineering
- Models (by type)
- Nanomechanics
- Numerical models
- Organic compounds
- Particles
- Solid mechanics
- Storage facilities
- Structural engineering
- Structures (by type)
- Underground storage
- Water (by type)
- Water and water resources
- Water management
- Wells (water)
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