SBIR Phase I: Predictive Tools for Characterizing Carbon Sequestration in Mined Materials

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project provides tools to identify and realize opportunities to use mine waste rock in carbon sequestration projects. This project encompasses research and development activities necessary to translate observations on the geochemistry of rock weathering into a comprehensive toolset for mining companies to characterize the potential for geologic materials excavated during mining to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide as solid, geologically stable carbonate mineral phases. The service will employ a novel predictive modelling tool and a method for determining the site-specific data to parameterize the model. The proposed project will characterize the carbon sequestration potential of mined materials through a novel framework for conceptualizing silicate mineral weathering. Currently no established tools characterize this potential with sufficient accuracy to optimize the design of rock storage systems for carbon sequestration. The proposed innovation will include a novel implementation of mathematics of the “shrinking core model” into a reactive transport framework to simulate diffusion-controlled silicate mineral weathering and subsequent carbonate mineral precipitation. The innovation also includes a novel application of mine waste characterization test work to identify site-specific reaction kinetics of multi-mineral assemblages for model parameterization. Research and development activities include mineral characterization of weathered mine waste and waste analogues, mathematical model development, and re-interpretation of published and proprietary kinetic data. Geochemical data on the weathering of mined materials at the lab and field-test scale will be provided by industry. The model will be used to predict the rate of sequestration occurring at the field tests. The predictive skill of the model will be tested via comparison to observed carbon sequestration rates. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.