HyStorPor - Hydrogen Storage in Porous Media

对间歇性可再生电力来源的日益依赖使得平衡供需变得困难。随着未来可再生能源比例的增加，这将变得越来越具有挑战性。一种解决方案是以氢的形式大规模的地质储存能量。储存的氢气发电可以平衡夏季和冬季的季节性能源需求，氢气有可能重新利用天然气电网并取代甲烷用于供暖。这一点很重要，因为建筑供暖目前是英国最大的碳排放源，超过了发电的碳排放源。然而，多孔岩石中的地下储氢技术尚未在商业上得到证实。因此，该项目使用最先进的实验室实验来解决在商业试验之前需要深入了解的问题，重点关注地理上广泛存在的多孔岩石中氢气的地质（地下）储存。地下氢的储存在岩盐洞穴中已经很好地建立起来了。然而，在英国，这种类型的地质仅限于提赛德、北爱尔兰和柴郡，从那里到其他地方的消费者需要漫长而昂贵的运输。在英国，甲烷气体已经储存在陆上的地下多孔储层中，以及海上重新利用的天然气田中，这为作业设计和挑战提供了见解。项目合作伙伴在油气储层、二氧化碳储存地质评估以及利用多孔岩石进行压缩空气储能方面拥有专业知识。WP1氢气反应性检测氢气是否会与注入的岩石或上覆的密封岩石发生化学反应，这可能会阻止气体被回收和使用。在地下温度和压力下将氢气注入多孔岩石的受控实验室实验将识别和量化可能的化学反应。WP2岩石物理评估氢在充满水的多孔介质中运移的效率，以及注入的氢实际上可以从岩石中回收多少。因为岩石是由固体颗粒组成的，中间有网状的孔隙空间，毛细力自然地捕获了一些氢。捕获量的多少会影响整个过程的商业可行性。以实验室为基础的实验将把氢注入岩石样本中，以帮助回答这个问题。CT扫描提供了岩石孔隙中氢潴留的实时3D图像。WP3流动模拟使用了从碳氢化合物模拟中改编的数字计算机流体流动模型，将实验室实验扩展到地下储存地点。WP1和WP2的氢反应流动特性将用于校准数值流体流动软件代码。这些模型可以计算氢气注入的效率，并预测在操作过程中可以回收多少氢气。此外，还会评估储层中缓冲气体的数量和类型，以作为在撤离期间维持作业压力和减少水侵蚀的预防措施。WP4公众认知认为，与天然气相比，社会对氢的熟悉程度可能要低得多。该项目的一个关键目标是在早期阶段确定公民和关键意见塑造者对地下储氢的看法，并让民间社会参与研究和开发过程，以确保储氢以技术上可行和社会上可接受的方式发展。在这类项目中，项目管理、行业咨询委员会、沟通和外联是必不可少的。数字更新将发布在专门的项目网站和社交媒体渠道上，并在学术和行业活动中进行演示。公共项目报告以及最终的同行评审出版物将提供项目进展的开放获取记录。

Increasing reliance on intermittent renewable electricity sources makes balancing supply to demand difficult. This will become increasingly challenging as the proportion of renewables increases into the future. One solution is the large-scale geological storage of energy in the form of hydrogen. Electricity generation from stored hydrogen can balance summer to winter seasonal energy demands, with the added potential for hydrogen to repurpose the gas grid and replace methane for heating. This is significant as the heating of buildings is currently the largest source of carbon emissions in the UK, exceeding those for electricity generation.However, the underground storage of hydrogen in porous rocks has not yet been demonstrated commercially. This project hence uses state-of-the-art laboratory experiments to address questions which require insight before commercial trials occur, focusing on the geological (underground) storage of hydrogen in geographically-widespread porous rocks. Storage of hydrogen underground is well established in caverns of halite (salt). However, in the UK this type of geology is restricted only to Teesside, Northern Ireland and Cheshire, with long and costly transport to consumers elsewhere. Methane gas in the UK is already stored underground onshore in porous reservoirs and offshore in re-purposed natural gas fields, and that provides insight to operational designs and challenges. The project partners have expertise in hydrocarbon reservoirs, geological assessment of CO2 storage, and compressed air energy storage using porous rocks.WP1 Hydrogen reactivity examines whether the hydrogen could react chemically with the rocks into which it is injected or the overlying seal rock, which could prevent the gas from being recovered and used. Controlled laboratory experiments with hydrogen injection into porous rock at subsurface temperatures and pressures will identify and quantify likely chemical reactions.WP2 Petrophysics assesses how effectively hydrogen migrates through water-filled porous media, and how much of the injected hydrogen can actually be recovered from the rock. Because the rock is made of solid grains with a network of pore spaces between, capillary forces naturally trap some of the hydrogen. How much is trapped affects the commercial viability of the whole process. Laboratory-based experimentation will inject hydrogen into rock samples to help answer this question. CT scanning provides live 3D images of the hydrogen retention in the rock pores.WP3 Flow simulation uses digital computer models of fluid flow adapted from hydrocarbon simulation to scale up from laboratory experiments to an underground storage site. Hydrogen reactive flow properties from WP1 and WP2 will be used to calibrate numerical fluid flow software codes. These models can calculate how efficiently the hydrogen can be injected, and predict how much of the hydrogen can be recovered during operation. Volumes and types of cushion gas to be left in the reservoir as a precaution to maintain operation pressure and minimise water encroachment during withdrawal periods will also be assessed.WP4 Public perception considers how societal familiarity with hydrogen may be much lower compared to natural gas. A key objective of the project is to ascertain at an early stage how citizens and key opinion shapers feel about hydrogen storage underground, and to engage civil society with the research and development process to ensure that hydrogen storage develops in a way that is both technically feasible and socially acceptable.WP5 Project management, industry advisory board, communication and outreach are essential in this type of project. Digital updates will be posted on a dedicated project website and social media channels, with presentations made at academic and industry events. Public project reports and, eventually, peer reviewed publications will provide an open access record of project progress.