Integrated facility for underground hydrogen storage research (Newcastle Node)

R&D Focus Areas:
Underground storage

Lead Organisation:
The University of Adelaide

Partners:
The University of Newcastle, The University of New South Wales, The University of Melbourne, Monash University, The University of Queensland, Beach Energy Ltd, Government of South Australia

Status:
Active

Start date:
February 2023

Completion date:
March 2024

Key contacts:
Project Leader (Newcastle Node): Doctor Mahshid Firouzi
Mahshid.Firouzi@newcastle.edu.au

Funding:
Australian Research Council (ARC – Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities [LIEF} grant), The University of Adelaide, The University of Newcastle, The University of New South Wales, The University of Melbourne, Monash University, The University of Queensland, Beach Energy Ltd, Government of South Australia

Project total cost:
AUD$140,000 (cash; only for the Newcastle node) by ARC

Project summary description:
This project aims to open major scientific opportunities for Australia to develop the fundamental science of hydrogen flow characterisation for hydrogen storage, to enable local industry to implement the advances as a critical part of the nation’s transition to a low-carbon future. The LIEF grant will allow the establishment of a world-class national facility for integrated research on hydrogen flow in geological formations. This will be critical for multiscale modelling, optimising governing parameters, and designing underground hydrogen storage (UHS) projects.

Australia has a significant capacity for UHS that exceeds the storage requirements of a fully developed hydrogen industry. Accurate measurement of the geomechanical, biochemical, geochemical, and transport properties of target geological formations and seal horizons is essential for understanding and modelling the reactive flow of hydrogen in the presence of brine and cushion-gas (hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide), and for predicting UHS capacity and performance.

Very few experiments have been conducted on hydrogen flow in porous media, due to the lack of experimental facilities that are compatible with hydrogen. The proposed facility will give the LIEF team and other Australian researchers access to an experimental facility for hydrogen flow in porous media that is unparalleled in Australia and internationally. The facility – three components with complementary capabilities – will enable the project partners to simultaneously measure a range of static and dynamic geochemical and transport properties at elevated pressures and temperatures, using a unique hydrogen-compatible, high-sensitivity multifunctional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) coreflooding system integrated with a batch reactor and a drop shape analyser.

Related publications and key links:
Not applicable

Higher degree studies supported:
Not applicable

 

November 2023