Impact of biogenic reactions for the operation of UHS in realistic fields

Underground hydrogen storage (UHS) is a promising solution for large-scale energy storage in a renewable energy supply system. Excessive energy produced by windmills or solar power plants is transformed into hydrogen by electrolysis. Gaseous hydrogen will then be stored in the subsurface using depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs, similarly to the conventional storage of natural gas. Previous research projects have indicated that the injection of hydrogen into the subsurface potentially stimulates biogenic reactions as e.g. methanogenesis and sulfate reduction.

In this thesis the impact of biogenic reactions will be investigated based on real data (geological model, fluid composition, production history) from depleted reservoirs provided by Eni. The student is asked to implement this data in the research simulator DuMu^x, to run the simulation of storage cycles and conclude the potential impact of biogenic reactions based on sensitivity studies.

Based on the above introduction, the proposed thesis should include the following:

• Review the literature on UHS and potential biogenic reactions
• Familiarization with terminal and DuMu^x on synthetic examples
• Preparation of 2 real-world models with increasing complexity (sector and fullfield) provided by Eni
• Implement/adapt fluid model if necessary, contingent on the field
• Test and sensitivities of both models
• Economic calculations

Hagemann, B. (2017). Numerical and Analytical Modeling of Gas Mixing and Bio-Reactive Transport during Underground Hydrogen Storage (Doctoral dissertation, Université de Lorraine).