Validating the application of cyclic hydraulic pressure pulses to reduce breakdown pressure in granite.

As the geoenergy sector moves toward more sustainable practices, an emerging field of research is the proposed utilization of cyclic hydraulic pressure pulses to safely and efficiently enhance productivity. We demonstrate how cyclic hydraulic pressure pulses can reduce hydraulic breakdown pressure in granite using newly developed experimental equipment, which applies pulsed square waves of fluid pressure to large bench-top samples, monitored with dynamic high-resolution fiber optic strain sensors. Our results show a significant reduction in breakdown pressure can be achieved by cyclic pulsed pumping, and we explore the role of mean pressure and cyclic amplitude.

Geochemical Integrity of Wellbore Cements during Geological Hydrogen Storage.

Increasing greenhouse gas emissions have put pressure on global economies to adopt strategies for climate-change mitigation. Large-scale geological hydrogen storage in salt caverns and porous rocks has the potential to achieve sustainable energy storage, contributing to the development of a low-carbon economy. During geological storage, hydrogen is injected and extracted through cemented and cased wells.

Geological Hydrogen Storage: Geochemical Reactivity of Hydrogen with Sandstone Reservoirs.

The geological storage of hydrogen is necessary to enable the successful transition to a hydrogen economy and achieve net-zero emissions targets. Comprehensive investigations must be undertaken for each storage site to ensure their long-term suitability and functionality. As such, the systematic infrastructure and potential risks of large-scale hydrogen storage must be established.

Thermodynamic and transport properties of hydrogen containing streams.

The use of hydrogen (H) as a substitute for fossil fuel, which accounts for the majority of the world's energy, is environmentally the most benign option for the reduction of CO emissions. This will require gigawatt-scale storage systems and as such, H storage in porous rocks in the subsurface will be required. Accurate estimation of the thermodynamic and transport properties of H mixed with other gases found within the storage system is therefore essential for the efficient design for the processes involved in this system chain.

Gas hydrates in sustainable chemistry.

Gas hydrates have received considerable attention due to their important role in flow assurance for the oil and gas industry, their extensive natural occurrence on Earth and extraterrestrial planets, and their significant applications in sustainable technologies including but not limited to gas and energy storage, gas separation, and water desalination. Given not only their inherent structural flexibility depending on the type of guest gas molecules and formation conditions, but also the synthetic effects of a wide range of chemical additives on their properties, these variabilities could be exploited to optimise the role of gas hydrates. This includes increasing their industrial applications, understanding and utilising their role in Nature, identifying potential methods for safely extracting natural gases stored in naturally occurring hydrates within the Earth, and for developing green technologies.

Estimating geological CO storage security to deliver on climate mitigation.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) can help nations meet their Paris CO reduction commitments cost-effectively. However, lack of confidence in geologic CO storage security remains a barrier to CCS implementation. Here we present a numerical program that calculates CO storage security and leakage to the atmosphere over 10,000 years.