Large-scale hydrogen geologic storage research is ongoing as clean hydrogen emerges as a low-carbon fuel option for transportation, electricity generation, manufacturing applications, and other clean energy applications that could accelerate the nation’s transition to a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy. Geologic reservoirs, including porous media, saline aquifers, lined cavern storage, and salt caverns are being considered for their potential to safely and efficiently store bulk quantities of natural gas, hydrogen, or blends for domestic energy markets.
The goal of this project is to establish the technical criteria for pure and blended hydrogen storage in subsurface geologic reservoirs by a) identifying sources for potential H2 resource and storage reservoir asset loss and b) identifying possible mitigations or remedies relativist to governing entities that may have regulatory primacy or authority.
The relevance of this research is to utilize the existing natural gas infrastructure to enable the early adoption of the low-carbon energy carrier, hydrogen, as a means to transition our energy grid to a carbon neutral energy economy. The selected participant's research will specifically focus on the following:
Identifying and understanding existing regulatory functions and needs as they relate to characterizing, permitting, and assessing underground natural gas storage (UGS) operations within the subsurface in order to define appropriate metrics relevant to UHS.
Quantifying the suitability of existing UGS facilities (which includes the well and subsurface geologic system) for storing pure and blended hydrogen.
Characterizing operational expectations with emphasis on quantifying risk for H2 resource loss processes, UGS asset degradation, and estimating transient behavior based on geologic and operational conditions.
https://www.zintellect.com/Opportunity/Details/NETL-PGRP-2023-Goodman