Numerical Comparison of Hydrogen and Storage in Deep Saline Aquifers from Pore Scale to Field Scale
Publication: Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 149, Issue 5
Abstract
Underground hydrogen storage (UHS) and carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) have been the frontiers of energy transition of petroleum and coal industries. The similarities and differences of UHS and CCS are the key focus of this work. We first investigate the flow characteristics in Berea sandstones applying our proposed pore-scale network modeling methods, emphasizing on the hysteresis of nonwetting phase. Then, the cap rock sealing capillary pressure curves are generated by scaling with the shale-gas-brine wettability conditions. Finally, the field-scale numerical models of and injection processes are implemented based on the pore-scaled results, where the storage capacity and sealing security are focused. The simulation results imply that storage process has more potential of leakage happening, while the storage is much safer since the cap rock sealing capillary pressure remains higher. Moreover, due to the extremely low viscosity and buoyancy effect, the gas front of is sharper than that of . The maximum injection volume of is much lower than that of because is less compressible at the subsurface conditions. In terms of storage capacity of finite saline aquifer, exhibits superiority over storage. This study attempts to undertake the essential comparison of UHS and CCS in the way of multiscale numerical simulation methods and to propose the general rules of thumb for the related researchers.
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Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52204060) and the Science Foundation of China University of Petroleum-Beijing (No. 2462021YJRC010).
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© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 28, 2023
Accepted: Jun 6, 2023
Published online: Aug 4, 2023
Published in print: Oct 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Jan 4, 2024
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Cited by
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