Effects of reservoir mechanical properties on induced seismicity during subsurface hydrogen storage
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Author(s)
Burtonshaw, JEJ
Paluszny, A
Mohammadpour, A
Zimmerman, RW
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The intermittent storage of hydrogen in subsurface porous media such as depleted gas fields could be pivotal to a successful energy transition. Numerical simulations investigate the intermittent storage of hydrogen in a porous, depleted subsurface reservoir. Various parametric studies are performed to assess the effect of mechanical properties of the reservoir (i.e. Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, Biot coefficient and permeability) on the induced fault slip of a single through-going fault that transverses the entire reservoir. Simulations are run using a three-dimensional, finite element, fully coupled hydromechanical code with explicit representations of layers and faults. The effect of the domain mesh refinement and fault mesh refinement on the fault slip versus operation time solution is investigated. The fault is observed to slip in two distinct events, one during the second injection period and one in the third injection period. The fault is not observed to slip during the storage or withdrawal periods. It is found that in order to minimize seismic risk, a reservoir rock with high Young's modulus (>40 GPa), high Poisson's ratio (>0.30) and high Biot coefficient (>0.65) would be preferable for hydrogen storage. Reservoir rocks of low Young's modulus (10-30 GPa), intermediate Poisson's ratio (0.00-0.30) and low-to-intermediate Biot coefficient (0.25-0.65), at high injection rates, were found to have higher potential of inducing large seismic events.This article is part of the theme issue 'Induced seismicity in coupled subsurface systems'.
Date Issued
2024-08-09
Date Acceptance
2024-02-05
Citation
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 2024, 382 (2276)
ISSN
1364-503X
Publisher
The Royal Society
Journal / Book Title
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
Volume
382
Issue
2276
Copyright Statement
© 2024 The Authors.
Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
License URL
Identifier
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.2023.0187
Subjects
hydrogen
seismicity
slip
storage
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Article Number
20230187
Date Publish Online
2024-07-01