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，当今的社会正在寻求转向环保和可再生能源。在各种能源方案中，氢（H2）受到了极大的关注，到2050年，预期的GVA可能会构成英国经济的主要资产，但是，到2050年，H2大规模存储以解决未来需求立场的主要挑战。 H2的地下存储可以提供有效的解决方案；但是，在现场规模实施这项技术之前，需要进行大量基础研究。 H2存储提出的一些挑战是：（i）对多孔岩石中H2循环注射孔尺度行为的基本理解有限。我们的博士生Zaid Jangda目前正在IGE调查这一方面； （ii）由于H2与居民盐水中存在的微生物的长期相互作用而形成的生物膜（H2是地下微生物活动的有效能源），这将在该项目中进行研究。生物膜的形成可以阻止可用的孔隙空间，这可能会对孔隙率和渗透率产生不利影响，从而影响进一步循环的存储能力。此外，尚不清楚生物膜的形成是否可以改变H2-桥岩系统中岩石样品的润湿性。如果发生润湿性改变，它可能会显着影响岩石中H2的流动特性。该项目将通过使用批处理和通过实验进行实验和3D X射线成像研究来解决这些挑战。结果将使我们能够仔细检查各种参数，这些参数可能会影响岩石中H2注射期间生物膜的形成。此外，它将使我们能够表征孔隙空间变化和由于生物膜及其对流量特性的影响而引起的润湿性改变。结果将使我们能够为H2存储的预测开发强大的模型（建模不在该项目的范围内）。除了拟议的工作之外，长期目标是制定实验策略，以防止可能对H2存储产生不利影响的生物膜。