Quantitative Analysis of Micro-structural Changes in a Bituminous Coal After Exposure to Supercritical CO2 and Water

Abstract

High-volatile bituminous coal samples were reacted in deionized water with supercritical CO2 (ScCO2–water) under simulated in situ pressure and temperature conditions (8 MPa and 40 °C) in unconfined stress state for 14 days, in order to characterize potential CO2–water–coal reactions. Micro-structural changes were identified pre- and post-experiment using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analysis for powdered coal (mineralogical changes), optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for polished thin sections (surface feature changes) and micro-CT scanning for a small core (porosity and permeability changes). XRD analysis revealed that carbonic acid leaches out mineral matters in ..