Earth Science and Engineering Graduate Seminar

Speaker: Professor Chen Zhu, Indiana University.

Abstract

CO₂ storage in deep saline aquifers and basalts is a strategy that many regards as critical to limiting global warming to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius. But is Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) safe? Can CO₂ escape to the overlying drinking water aquifers to cause unwanted reactions and degrade water quality? Our ability to understand and predict geochemical reactions in aquifers is critical for answering these questions.

This talk will give an overview of geological carbon sequestration efforts and of the research advances in reaction kinetics and geochemical modeling necessary to predict the safety of CO₂ storage. Recent innovative research by my group on using non-traditional stable isotope tracers in geochemical kinetics experiments has broken new ground in near-equilibrium reaction kinetics, which is critically relevant to CCUS. The Sleipner Project in Norway is the world’s first industrial-scale CO₂ storage project. I will present the results of numerical simulations of CO₂ fate and geochemical reactions at this site. The connections and overlap between basic science and pressing societal needs become clear through a tour of the fascinating CCUS efforts around the world. I will also briefly point out the potential applications of our approaches to geothermal energy and hydrogen fuel storage in aquifers.

Bio

Chen Zhu is a Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Indiana University. He is also an adjunct professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the School of Public Health at Indiana University. He specializes in water’s reactions with minerals and rocks. Zhu holds a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University, an MSc from the University of Toronto, a BS from the Chengdu University of Technology, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Zhu is the 2021-2022 Henry Darcy Distinguished Lecturer sponsored by the Groundwater Foundation, and was a Fulbright Scholar and the 2006 recipient of the John Hem Award from the (US) National Ground Water Association. Zhu has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Mineralogical Society of America, and the Geological Society of America. Currently, Zhu serves as a co-Executive Editor for Groundwater published by the (US) National Groundwater Association. His book with Greg Anderson, Environmental Applications of Geochemical Modeling published by Cambridge University Press, is used as a textbook at universities around the world.