InterPore2025

Effect of geological heterogeneities on underground hydrogen storage operations

20 May 2025, 10:05

1h 30m

Poster Presentation (MS23) Advances in Experimental, Computational, and Analytical Approaches for Underground Hydrogen Storage Poster

Speaker

Ms Diya Sunil Kumbhat (Research Associate)

Description

The geological subsurface is expected to play a vital role in securing a sustainable future by playing host to technologies including: geothermal energy, carbon capture and storage and underground hydrogen storage (UHS). In this study, we examine the flow behaviour of hydrogen in different depositional environments for UHS. Geological heterogeneities in the subsurface can affect hydrogen flow paths, plume shape and the gas saturation distribution – key factors that affect optimal storage performance. We characterise flow behaviour in reservoirs with varying heterogeneities to understand the impact and challenges posed by reservoirs with different geological heterogeneities on UHS. The heterogeneities examined are representative of typical subsurface storage locations. Some scenarios involve small inclusions of low permeability within a high-permeability background. Others involve low-permeability baffles of longer spatial continuity. These scenarios are created using Python package GSTools [1]. Finally, some scenarios represent fluvial reservoir systems generated with FLUMY [2] to examine UHS behaviour in flow channels.

The numerical simulation of the system is carried out using TOUGH3 [3]. We evaluate the effect of these heterogeneities on UHS in terms of operational efficiency, hydrogen losses due to trapping with and without hysteresis and unwanted brine production. Results are presented for various geological configurations to highlight their implications for UHS design and optimization.