Speaker
Description
Underground hydrogen storage (UHS) in porous geological formations is emerging as a critical technology for balancing renewable energy supply and demand. Although hydrogen storage shares operational similarities with natural gas storage, hydrogen’s distinct physical properties lead to fundamentally different multiphase flow behaviour, particularly with respect to capillary trapping and relative permeability hysteresis. Hydrogen losses due to residual trapping during cyclic injection and withdrawal remain a major source of uncertainty in storage efficiency, yet most field-scale simulations rely on conventional hysteresis models that assume strongly water-wet conditions and monotonic trapping behaviour.
In this study, we present a complete and reproducible pore-scale–to–field-scale implementation workflow for the wettability-dependent relative permeability hysteresis model proposed by Spiteri et al., enabling systematic assessment of hydrogen trapping across a wide range of wettability conditions. The model is implemented within the Open Porous Media (OPM) hysteresis framework and integrated into the OPM Flow reservoir simulator, with additional verification performed using the QASR simulator. Numerical formulations are adapted to ensure stability and smooth transitions during repeated flow reversals typical of seasonal hydrogen storage operations.
Model parameters are calibrated using pore-network simulations based on high-resolution micro-CT images of Berea sandstone. Gas–water injection cycles are simulated under strongly water-wet, weakly water-wet, and mixed-wet conditions to derive initial–residual saturation relationships and scanning relative permeability curves. The calibrated Spiteri parameters capture non-monotonic trapping behaviour observed at the pore scale, which cannot be reproduced using conventional Land-based hysteresis models.
Field-scale simulations are conducted using a heterogeneous aquifer model derived from the PUNQ-S3 sector model. Four hysteresis scenarios—no hysteresis, Killough, Carlson, and Spiteri—are evaluated over multiple injection–withdrawal cycles. Results show that wettability exerts a first-order control on hydrogen trapping and recovery. Traditional hysteresis models fail to represent residual trapping under weakly water-wet and mixed-wet conditions, whereas the Spiteri model reproduces the non-monotonic trapping trends identified in pore-scale simulations.
This work bridges pore-scale physics and reservoir-scale performance, providing practical guidance for hysteresis model selection in UHS simulations. By enabling wettability-dependent hysteresis within open-source reservoir simulators, the study improves the predictive capability of UHS assessments and supports more reliable design and operation of large-scale hydrogen storage projects.
| Country | United Kingdom |
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