Martin Blunt is the Professor of Flow in Porous Media at Imperial College, London. Some of his research work focusses on the flows in underground sedimentary rocks: this is where oil and gas are traditionally found, but is also where we must now look to store carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and thermal energy. Safely storing large
One of the challenges with modelling subsurface flows is the uncertainty in measurements of geological properties, mostly due to limited resolution in observation methods. Typically, the observations of subsurface systems have a resolution of order 1 m, and this leaves a large amount of uncertainty in the small-scale variation in properties such as permeability. Many
Large-scale storage technologies are crucial to balance consumption and intermittent production of renewable energy. At times of excess production, some renewable energy might be converted into compressed air or hydrogen, which is then stored in underground salt caverns. The energy is recovered later, when renewable production becomes insufficient. Herminio Tasinafo Honorio, from Delft University of
Just before the beginning of term, professor Weiwei Zhu from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences visited us and presented his recent work on Fracture Network connectivity in geological formations. Fractures are ubiquitous in crustal rocks due to the harsh environment of the deep subsurface and the inherent brittleness
Carbon storage in deep saline aquifers has become an important part of plans to decarbonise the energy system. Typically, aquifers are composed of a porous, permeable rock containing formation water. As CO2 is injected into an aquifer, some of it migrates towards topographic highs within the aquifer, while some is retained in the pore spaces
To celebrate his recent submission, PhD student Sam Clarke presented some of the results of his work at the weekly seminar today. During his time at the Institute, Sam has been working on reactive flows through porous rocks, with particular interest in the flows which develop around nuclear waste disposal sites. Nuclear waste items need
In a number of natural or industrial settings, such as magmatic intrusions or geothermal power systems, subsurface porous rocks are flooded by fluid of a different density and composition than the original formation fluid. As the invading fluid migrates through the formation and reacts, its density and composition might change. In turn, this may lead