Colorimetric pH Measurement of Pressurized Groundwater Containing CO2

A gas-tight pH measurement is needed to monitor water chemistry at a CO2 geological storage site. In the CO2 reservoirs, the temperature and pressure are generally more than the critical point of CO2 (31.2°C and 7.38 MPa). In this study, a colorimetric pH measurement method was examined up to 20 MPa for future application to various CO2 reservoirs. A mixture of two color indicators, bromocresol green (BCG) and metacresol purple (mCP), was considered to be a suitable measurement method between pH 3 and 9. The uncertainty up to 20 MPa was less than 0.12 pH units without any correction of pressure effects. We demonstrated a pH measurement of formation water at the Nagaoka CO2 post-injection site. The pH measurement was successfully accomplished under a high-pressure condition (ca. 11 MPa) and without degassing of CO2.