Microbial impact on subsurface H2 storage in porous reservoirs

Background

H₂ can be produced through electrolysis from a surplus of renewable energy and is then stored underground in depleted oil and gas fields. However, H₂ is also a rich energy source for anaerobic microbial metabolisms, which is crucial in subsurface environments where other electron donors are scarce. Despite their extreme conditions, porous reservoirs contain a diverse microbial community, from which methanogens, sulfate reducers and acetogens could exert a significant detrimental impact on H₂ storage. Through their activities, they could cause a loss of the stored H₂, the production of H₂S, which contaminates the H₂ and provokes corrosion of the equipment, and the loss of injectivity through accumulation of bio-based solids as biofilms and extracellular polymeric substances (ex: FeS).

Aim

The overall goal of this project is to evaluate the feasibility of subsurface H₂ storage in porous reservoirs from a microbiological point of view. We will assess (i) the window of viability of different microbial functional groups (methanogens, sulfate reducers and acetogens), (ii) the kinetics of microbial growth and activities, and (iii) the production of bio-based solids (e.g. Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPS), FeS) under subsurface storage conditions.

Contact

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