Modelling of hydrogen gas generation from overmature organic matter in the Cooper Basin, Australia
Christopher J. Boreham
A * , Dianne S. Edwards A , Andrew J. Feitz A , Andrew P. Murray B , Nicolaj Mahlstedt C and Brian Horsfield C
A Geoscience Australia, GPO Box 378, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
B Murray Partners PPSA Pty. Ltd., Perth, Australia.
C GEOS4 GmbH, D‐14552 Michendorf, Germany.
The APPEA Journal 63 S351-S356 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ22084
Accepted: 10 February 2023 Published: 11 May 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY)
Abstract
A significant portion of planned energy and mineral resource investment into Australia is now for hydrogen (H2). Whether from fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage or from electrolysis of water using renewable energy, there is a price premium for manufactured hydrogen. The production of H2 from geological sources (geologic H2) could be more cost-effective. The majority of sources for geologic H2 are abiotic and their resource potential is largely unknown. Biogenic (microbial and thermogenic) sources also exist. The focus for this study is on a thermogenic source where chemical kinetics of H2 generation from the thermal breakdown of land-plant-derived organic matter has been applied within a petroleum system modelling framework for the Cooper Basin. Modelling of mid-Patchawarra Formation coals and shales, the main source rocks for petroleum, indicate that free H2 is available at maturities >3.5% vitrinite reflectance and that a large volume of free H2 is predicted to occur in a ‘sweet spot’ deep within the Nappamerri Trough. In-situ free H2 concentrations deep within the Nappamerri Trough are predicted to be comparable to methane concentrations in productive unconventional shale gas plays. Nevertheless, exploration drilling within the Cooper Basin’s depocentre is sparse and a deep H2 system remains largely untested.
Keywords: chemical kinetics of hydrogen generation, Cooper Basin, geologic hydrogen, hydrogen system, natural hydrogen, coal and carbonaceous shale source rock, petroleum system modelling, thermogenic natural gas.
Christopher J. Boreham is a Principal Organic Geochemist at Geoscience Australia working in the Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division. He obtained a Ph.D. in Chemistry at the Australian National University. Chris applies his skills to understand the evolution of petroleum and abiogenic gas in Australian basins. Chris is a member of PESA and AAPG. |
Dianne S. Edwards is a Principal Organic Geochemist at Geoscience Australia working in the Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Adelaide in 1996. Dianne’s focus is on building databases and web services to release geochemical information that underpins Australia’s petroleum systems. Dianne is a member of PESA. |
Andrew J. Feitz is an Environmental Engineer and Director of Low Carbon Geoscience and Advice at Geoscience Australia. He holds a Ph.D. from UNSW and worked as a senior researcher at The University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany). Andrew leads GA’s efforts supporting implementation of the National Hydrogen Strategy. |
Andrew Murray is a director of Murray Partners PPSA and provides training and consulting in petroleum system analysis. He holds M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Petroleum Geochemistry and was head of the discipline at Woodside Energy for 18 years. |
Nicolaj Mahlstedt is a Petroleum System Analyst at GEOS4 GmbH and holds a Ph.D. in Organic Geochemistry from the Technical University (TU) of Berlin. He has 10+ years’ experience in upstream research and development. His major interests include petroleum system analysis in conventional as well as unconventional settings, and compositional kinetic modelling. |
Brian Horsfield is CEO and Managing Director of GEOS4, a geochemistry research and service provider for the upstream energy sector. He is an elected member of the German Academy of Science and Technology, and is Emeritus Professor of Organic Geochemistry and Hydrocarbon Systems at TU Berlin. |
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