This dataset is provided to support the statements in Kim, H., and R.Y. Makhnenko. 2022. "Evaluation of CO2 sealing potential of heterogeneous Eau Claire shale". Journal of the Geological Society.
In geologic carbon dioxide (CO2) storage in deep saline aquifers, buoyant CO2 tends to float upwards in the reservoirs overlaid by low permeable formations called caprocks. Caprocks should serve as barriers to potential CO2 leakage that can happen through a diffusion loss and permeation through faults, fractures, or pore spaces. The leakage through intact caprock would mainly depend on its permeability and CO2 breakthrough pressure, and is affected by the heterogeneities in the material. Here, we study the sealing potential of a caprock from Illinois Basin - Eau Claire shale, with sandy and shaly fractions distinguished via electron microscopy and grain/pore size and surface area characterization. The direct measurements of permeability of sandy shale provides the values ~ 10-15 m2, while clayey specimens are three orders of magnitude less permeable. The CO2 breakthrough pressure under in-situ stress conditions is 0.1 MPa for the sandy shale and 0.4 MPa for the clayey counterpart – these values are higher than those predicted by the porosimetry methods performed on the unconfined specimens. Sandy Eau Claire shale would allow penetration of large CO2 volumes at low overpressures, while the clayey formation can serve as a caprock in the absence of faults and fractures in it.