Grant: Alliance Grants

In this project, the University of Alberta (UofA) team will collaborate with two Canadian operating companies to conduct essential studies for designing field trials of hydrogen storage in bedded and domal salts. The research team will analyze preserved cores from two recently drilled wells in the Lotsberg Formation in Fort Saskatchewan and in Robinson River bedded salt in Newfoundland. The research project involves three main phases: 1) field data analysis, 2) laboratory experiments, and 3) mathematical modeling and software development. The main objectives are to investigate hydrogen-rock and hydrogen-brine interactions during storage operations, optimizing the location, depth interval, design specifications, and operational parameters of hydrogen salt caverns. The experimental data will be analyzed and modeled to predict the rate of hydrogen diffusion through wellbore and cavern walls, estimating the potential generation rate due to possible geochemical reactions. The core samples will also be analyzed to assess cavern geomechanical stability under frequent injection and withdrawal operations, leading to cyclic stress and temperature. The research will be conducted by four PhD, two MSc, and three undergraduate co-op students, along with two postdoctoral fellows who will be trained by UofA faculty members and industry collaborators. It is expected that the research results will provide the necessary data and models for designing hydrogen storage caverns and for updating codes and standards (CSA Z341) to ensure safe and responsible energy storage operations.