Pore-Scale Characterization of Sedimentary Rocks for Hydrogen, Gas and Carbon Storage
This research community investigates the microscopic pore structures, permeability, and adsorption properties of sedimentary rocks to determine their suitability for storing hydrogen, natural gas, and carbon dioxide underground.
The work centers on quantifying pore size distributions and fractal characteristics in tight sandstone, shale, and coal formations. Researchers employ mercury intrusion porosimetry, nuclear magnetic resonance, and molecular dynamics simulations to model how these porous media interact with stored fluids. A significant portion of the literature focuses on the Ordos and Sichuan basins in China, analyzing specific reservoirs for coalbed methane recovery and shale gas extraction. Concurrently, the community addresses the geomechanical integrity and geochemical compatibility of these formations for underground hydrogen storage and carbon sequestration, often comparing depleted gas reservoirs and salt caverns as viable storage sites.
The largest share of this community's output is found in mercury research, accounting for 1.8% of all mercury research, followed by hydrogen at 0.5% and helium at 0.5%. Carbon research contributes the highest paper count within this group, with 2,826 papers, while mercury research follows with 2,573 papers.
The community comprises 15,036 papers, publishing most frequently in Fuel, the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, and Energy & Fuels.
Recent work continues to focus on site selection for underground hydrogen storage in porous media and the geomechanical integrity of shale caprocks. Newer studies also apply transformer-based models for 3D pore network segmentation in low-permeability rocks and examine the regulation of electrolytes on coal wettability for methane recovery.