CAS-Climate: Bubble generation and ripening in underground hydrogen storage

CAS-气候：地下储氢中气泡的产生和成熟

• 批准号: 2348723
• 负责人: Yashar Mehmani
• 金额: $ 35.2万
• 依托单位: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-05-01 至 2027-04-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2348723&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAS; Climate; Bubble; generation; ripening; CAS; Climate; Bubble; generation; ripening

The international energy agency identifies hydrogen as one of the key pillars for decarbonizing the global energy sector by mid-century. This is because most renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are intermittent, requiring storage during times of high production to ensure availability during times of low production. Hydrogen is an excellent medium for storage, but very large volumes will be required. Surface facilities and underground salt caverns provide some capacity, but not enough for what is needed. Deep geologic formations comprised of porous rocks are a promising solution because they offer large capacity with demonstrated success in storing other fluids (e.g., carbon dioxide). What is not well understood is how much of the hydrogen injected during summertime can be recovered during winter and how hydrogen purity is impacted by the presence of a co-injected fluid, called cushion gas. The seasonal injection-withdrawal cycles will likely generate and trap many hydrogen and cushion-gas bubbles in the rock that subsequently exchange mass with each other through a process known as Ostwald ripening. Both can contribute to the loss and purity degradation of hydrogen. This award aims to understand the basic mechanisms controlling entrapment and ripening of multicomponent bubbles relevant to hydrogen storage. This understanding will help select suitable geologic storage sites and compatible cushion-gasses.Hydrogen is widely regarded as a key pillar for decarbonizing the global energy system. To buffer the intermittency burden of wind and solar at scale, vast quantities of hydrogen must be stored seasonally. Existing solutions (e.g., tanks and salt caverns) do not provide nearly enough capacity for what is needed. Geologic hydrogen storage in deep formations meets the demand, but very little is understood about how hydrogen interacts with pre-existing and co-injected fluids, called cushion gas. The goal of this award is to understand how cyclically injected multicomponent gases become trapped within a porous microstructure and how they evolve through diffusive mass exchange, or Ostwald ripening. An integrated experimental and modeling plan is proposed to gain fundamental insights into: (1) the factors that control the spatial distribution of trapped bubbles during cyclic injections and withdrawals; (2) how bubble sizes, shapes, and compositions evolve due to ripening; and (3) how collective bubble equilibration impacts the macroscopic storage capacity and flow resistance of the porous medium. The educational plan will train one PhD student and engage underserved K-12 students through in-person/virtual museum exhibits.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

国际能源机构将氢确定为在本世纪中叶脱碳化全球能源部门的关键支柱之一。这是因为大多数可再生能源（例如风能和太阳能）是间歇性的，需要在高生产时期内存储，以确保在低生产时期可用。氢是一种出色的存储媒介，但需要很大的量。地面设施和地下盐洞提供了一定的能力，但不足以满足所需的能力。由多孔岩石组成的深层地质地层是一个有前途的解决方案，因为它们具有很大的能力，并且在储存其他液体方面取得了成功（例如二氧化碳）。尚不清楚的是，在冬季可以回收多少氢，以及氢纯度如何受到共同注射的流体（称为坐垫气）的影响。季节性注射周期可能会在岩石中产生并捕获许多氢和缓冲气泡，然后通过称为Ostwald成熟的过程彼此交换质量。两者都可以导致氢的损失和纯度降解。该奖项旨在了解控制与氢储存相关的多组分气泡的基本机制。这种理解将有助于选择合适的地质储存位点和兼容的垫子，氢被广泛视为脱碳的关键支柱。为了减轻风和太阳能的间歇性负担，必须季节性存储大量氢。现有的解决方案（例如，储罐和盐洞）并不能为需要的东西提供足够的容量。深层地质地质氢的储存满足了需求，但是关于氢如何与现有和共同注射的流体（称为坐垫气体）相互作用的知识很少。该奖项的目的是了解如何将周期注射的多组分气体捕获在多孔的微观结构中，以及它们如何通过扩散的质量交换或Ostwald成熟来发展。提出了一项综合的实验和建模计划，以获取基本见解：（1）控制循环注射和戒断过程中捕获气泡的空间分布的因素； （2）气泡大小，形状和组成如何由于成熟而发展； （3）集体气泡平衡如何影响多孔介质的宏观存储能力和流动阻力。该教育计划将通过面对面/虚拟博物馆的展览培训一名博士学位学生，并吸引服务不足的K-12学生。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准，认为值得通过评估来获得支持。