Hydrogen Impact on Cement Integrity during Underground Hydrogen Storage: A Minireview and Future Outlook

Abstract

Underground hydrogen storage (UHS) is a promising solution to meet the increase in energy supply and demand while supporting the energy transition to net-zero carbon. The successful implementation of UHS requires careful assessment of several scientific aspects, among them evaluating the cement stability and wellbore integrity to ensure safe storage and production of hydrogen. Few studies have evaluated the geochemical reactivity of cement to hydrogen; however, more studies are needed to explore the role of hydrogen adsorption and diffusivity behavior with cement and address the associated wellbore integrity issues. This minireview presents the state-of-the-art advancement in evaluating the impact of hydrogen on cement wellbore stability from various aspects, including hydrogen/ cement interactions, hydrogen adsorption and diffusivity, current methodologies, experimental setups, and the role of cement additives and cushion gases. This minireview provides a general comparison between UHS and other gas storage applications and mainly aims to bridge the knowledge gap by providing insights for practical implementations, challenges, and future directions relevant to wellbore integrity. Although most of the reviewed studies reported a low impact of hydrogen injection on cement stability, the successful implementation of UHS requires further assessment as various technical and non-technical factors and mechanisms are involved. Systematic scientific studies should be performed in the future, which will assist in overcoming the existing challenges and reducing the uncertainty associated with wellbore integrity during UHS.

Subsurface Hydrogen Storage in Limestone Rocks: Evaluation of Geochemical Reactions and Gas Generation Potential

“…Therefore, future studies can be conducted to explore the changes in brine chemistry associated with hydrogen-rock-brine interactions. Fourth, this work only investigates the impact of hydrogen gas, although in real applications, cushion gases, i.e., CO 2 and CH 4 , will be used to reduce the cost of injection and maintain the reservoir pressure, which is beyond the scope of this work. However, such an area deserves an additional investigation to explore the impact of impurities on the purity of stored hydrogen.…”

Review of Hydrogen Storage Technologies and the Crucial Role of Environmentally Friendly Carriers

“…The high-energy consumption cooling equipment used during liquefaction significantly increases carbon emissions, especially when the energy source is fossil fuels. Additionally, the manufacturing of liquefaction equipment and low-temperature tanks also requires significant material and energy consumption, resulting in a considerable carbon footprint . During low-temperature storage and transportation, maintaining the low-temperature state requires continuous energy consumption.…”

“…High surface area materials need effective recycling and reuse systems after use to ensure that the materials do not cause long-term pollution to the environment . For example, activated carbon can be regenerated to restore its adsorption capacity through thermal regeneration, but this process also requires a significant amount of energy . The recovery and treatment of metal–organic framework materials are more complex and may involve handling toxic chemicals.…”