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Subsurface Hydrogen Storage Controlled by Small-scale Rock Heterogeneities by Jangda, Zaid; Menke, Hannah; Busch, Andreas; Geiger, Sebastian; Bultreys, Tom; Singh, Kamaljit is a scholarly article available to read on EtoBox.

What is Subsurface Hydrogen Storage Controlled by Small-scale Rock Heterogeneities about?

Subsurface porous rocks have the potential to store large volumes of hydrogen (H$_2$) required for transitioning towards a H$_2$-based energy future. Understanding the flow and trapping behavior of H$_2$ in subsurface storage systems, which is influenced by pore-scale heterogeneities inherent to subsurface rocks, is crucial to reliably evaluate the storage efficiency of a geological formation. In this work, we performed 3D X-ray imaging and flow experiments to investigate the impact of pore-scale heterogeneity on H$_2$ distribution after its cyclic injection (drainage) and withdrawal (imbibition) from a layered rock sample, characterized by varying pore and throat sizes. Our findings reveal that even subtle variations in rock structure and properties significantly influence H$_2$ displacement and storage efficiency. During drainage, H$_2$ follows a path consisting of large pores and throats, bypassing the majority of the low permeability rock layer consisting of smaller pores and throats. This bypassing substantially reduces the H$_2$ storage capacity. Moreover, due to the varying pore and throat sizes in the layered sample, depending on the experimental flow strategy, we observe a

Author

Jangda, Zaid; Menke, Hannah; Busch, Andreas; Geiger, Sebastian; Bultreys, Tom; Singh, Kamaljit

Published

2023

Language

EN