Effect of biofilm formation on multiphase flow and wetting properties during cyclic injection of hydrogen in rocks

岩石循环注氢过程中生物膜形成对多相流和润湿特性的影响

• 批准号: 2901554
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Heriot-Watt University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2901554
• 关键词: Effect; biofilm; formation; multiphase; flow

In response to increasing concerns of global warming and climate change, today's society is seeking to shift towards environmentally friendly and renewable energy sources. Among various energy options, hydrogen (H2) is receiving significant attention, and is likely to form a major asset of the UK's economy with an expected GVA of £18 billion/year by 2050. However, large-scale storage of H2 to account for future demand poses major challenges. Underground storage of H2 can provide an effective solution; however, substantial fundamental research is needed before implementing this technique at the field scale. Some of the challenges that H2 storage presents are: (i) the limited fundamental understanding of pore-scale behaviour of cyclic injection of H2 in porous rocks. This aspect is currently being investigated by our PhD student Zaid Jangda at IGE; and (ii) the formation of biofilms due to long-term interaction of H2 with the microbes present in the resident brine (H2 is an effective energy source for subsurface microbial activities), which will be investigated in this project. The formation of biofilms can block the available pore space, which can adversely affect porosity and permeability, and consequently the storage capacity for further cycles. Moreover, it is unknown if the formation of biofilms can alter the wettability of rock samples in a H2-brine-rock system. If wettability alteration occurs, it can significantly affect the flow properties of H2 in rocks. This project will address these challenges by conducting an experimental and 3D X-ray imaging study using batch and flow through experiments. The results will allow us to scrutinise various parameters that can impact the formation of biofilms during H2 injection in rocks. Moreover, it will enable us to characterise the pore space variations and wettability alteration due to biofilms and their impact on flow properties. The results will allow us to develop robust models for the prediction of H2 storage (modelling is not in the scope of this project). The long-term goal, beyond the proposed work, is to develop experimental strategies to prevent biofilms that can adversely affect H2 storage.

为了应对全球变暖和气候变化的日益关注，当今社会正在寻求转向环境友好和可再生能源。在各种能源选择中，氢（H2）受到了极大的关注，并有可能成为英国经济的主要资产，预计到2050年GVA将达到180亿英镑/年。然而，大规模储存氢气以满足未来需求带来了重大挑战。H2的地下储存可以提供有效的解决方案;然而，在现场规模实施这项技术之前，需要进行大量的基础研究。H2储存带来的一些挑战是：（i）对多孔岩石中循环注入H2的孔隙尺度行为的基本理解有限。这方面目前正在研究我们的博士生Zaid Jangda在IGE;和（ii）生物膜的形成，由于长期相互作用的H2与微生物存在于居民盐水（H2是地下微生物活动的有效能源），这将在本项目中进行研究。生物膜的形成会阻塞可用的孔隙空间，这会对孔隙率和渗透性产生不利影响，从而影响进一步循环的储存能力。此外，它是未知的，如果生物膜的形成可以改变岩石样品在H2-盐水-岩石系统的润湿性。如果润湿性发生改变，它可以显着影响H2在岩石中的流动特性。该项目将通过使用批处理和流通实验进行实验和3D X射线成像研究来解决这些挑战。这些结果将使我们能够仔细检查在岩石中注入H2期间可能影响生物膜形成的各种参数。此外，它将使我们能够解释孔隙空间的变化和润湿性的改变，由于生物膜及其对流动性能的影响。研究结果将使我们能够开发出预测H2储存的可靠模型（建模不在本项目范围内）。除了拟议的工作之外，长期目标是开发实验策略，以防止可能对H2储存产生不利影响的生物膜。