Mission
Engage in novel fundamental research on hydrogen geostorage & carbon dioxide utilization/geostorage in unconventional organic-rich shale reservoirs, including partially depleted gas shale reservoirs
Leverage our expertise in petrophysics, geology, geochemistry, computational chemistry and thermodynamics to address the challenges and develop novel integrated techniques to solve them
Objectives
Investigate the physical, chemical, and transport processes for hydrogen geostorage & carbon dioxide utilization/geostorage in unconventional organic-rich shale, from the molecular-scale (i.e., Å) to the core-scale (i.e., cm), using our unique capabilities:
NMR
Measurements
MD
Simulations
Thermodynamics
Theory
Advanced NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) measurements of 1H relaxation & diffusion at 2 MHz & 20 MHz on gas-saturated core-plugs at elevated pressures of up to 5,000 psi for hydrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide
Atomistic MD (molecular dynamics) simulations of 1H relaxation & diffusion and GCMC (Grand canonical Monte Carlo) simulations of realistic kerogen models, without any NMR relaxation models and without any free parameters
Thermodynamic models using molecular DFT (density function theory) and iSAFT (interfacial statistical associating fluid theory) for phase behavior and competitive sorption on kerogen
Collaborate with industry partners to then upscale to the reservoir (i.e., km) scale using logs and reservoir simulations
Motivation
Hydrogen geostorage & carbon dioxide utilization/geostorage in unconventional shale formations are promising for enhancing natural gas production while simultaneously storing a known greenhouse gas.
The cumulative US dry shale gas production is ≈ 250 TCF (eia.gov), which is primarily composed of methane (≈ 5 Gt). This gives an estimate of the vast existing capacity for hydrogen (≈ 0.6 Gt) geostorage or carbon dioxide (≈ 13 Gt) geostorage in partially depleted gas shale reservoirs.
Gas shale reservoirs also have the advantage of the huge infrastructure already in place for partially depleted wells, including the existing downhole fracture networks, and the existing surface facilities such as pipelines and other infrastructure.
Natural gas dissolves in kerogen by creating gas-filled nanopores in the kerogen matrix, thereby causing the kerogen to swell. The dissolved gas in kerogen is typically neglected in reserve estimates of gas shales. Recovery of dissolved gas could increase ultimate recovery by ≈20% (Etminan et al. 2014), and is promising for utilization and subsequent geostorage of carbon dioxide.
