Speaker
Description
The biochemical fate of hydrogen injected into porous subsurface geological formations during underground hydrogen storage (UHS) is determined primarily by the rates at which dissimilatory sulphate reduction, hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis, and homoacetogenesis occur. The in-situ rates at which these reactions occur are constrained by reservoir conditions, nutrient availability, and electron donor-electron acceptor availability. This study aims to quantify the kinetics of hydrogenotrophy under simulated reservoir conditions and to assess how hydrogen consumption is constrained by nutrient deprivation.
To investigate this, an artificial brine was inoculated with Methanothermobacter thermoautotrophicus or Desulfofundulus kuznetsovii and injected into a high-pressure, high-temperature bioreactor with a hydrogen or hydrogen–carbon dioxide flushed headspace. Experiments were conducted at 65 °C and 100 bar under mass-transfer optimised conditions over a three-week period. Residual gas analysis was used to quantify hydrogen consumption and the production of methane and hydrogen sulphide over time.
The resulting data can be used to derive kinetic parameters for microbial hydrogen consumption and to evaluate the extent to which nutrient deprivation constrains reaction rates. These parameters will inform biogeochemical models of UHS systems and support the development of microbial flow and imaging experiments.
| Country | United Kingdom |
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