The migration of hydrogen in sedimentary basins
Bhavik Harish Lodhia
A * and Luk Peeters B
A
B
Dr Bhavik Lodhia a Research Scientist at CSIRO Environment, specialises in modelling basin-scale hydrogen migration for applications in natural hydrogen exploration, underground storage, and groundwater risk management. He serves as a Volume Editor at the Geological Society of London and a review editor for Frontiers in Earth Sciences, alongside his role as a peer reviewer for top Earth Science journals. Dr Lodhia was awarded a PhD in Geology and Geophysics from Imperial College London and an undergraduate degree from the University of Oxford. His work spans sediment dynamics, basin modelling, resource estimation, fluid dynamics, geodynamics, and geochemical tracing. Dr Lodhia holds honorary positions at Imperial College London and the University of New South Wales, Sydney, and was honoured with the Early Career Award at the 2023 Australasian Exploration Geoscience Conference. Active within the Australian Society of Exploration Geophysics, he served as Secretary of the NSW branch in 2022. |
Dr Luk Peeters has over 15 years of research experience in risk and impact analysis and water resources management, with an emphasis on conceptualisation, numerical modelling and uncertainty analysis, geostatistics and machine learning. He obtained his PhD in Geology from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) and joined CSIRO Land and Water in 2010 as a Research Scientist. Dr Peeters leads the Risk and Impact Analysis Team in the Trusted Environmental and Geological Information Program, which evaluates potential impact on water and the environment of energy resource developments, such as hydrogen, oil, and gas in Queensland. He has authored over 70 peer-reviewed international journal papers and reports, including the Australian Groundwater Modelling Guidelines and the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Unconventional Gas Development and Large Coal Mining Development Explanatory Note on Uncertainty Analysis in Groundwater Modelling. |
Abstract
Understanding the mechanisms of large-scale, subsurface hydrogen migration is essential for natural hydrogen exploration and for hydrogen storage assessment. The unique properties of hydrogen make the timescales of hydrogen migration within geological basins vary from thousands of years to days. Within the shallow Earth, diffusive and advective transport mechanisms are dependent on a wide range of parameters, including geological structure, microbial activity and subsurface environmental factors (e.g. salinity, temperature and pressure). In this study, we review the nature and timescale of hydrogen migration in geological basins. We also review the mechanisms and timescales of hydrogen migration within diffusive, advective and biologically moderated systems within the shallow Earth. We calculate maximum vertical velocity for several key rock types, including sandstone and micrite, and discuss the importance of capillary pressure in controlling the mode of hydrogen migration in sedimentary rocks. Finally, we discuss the potential application of causal analyses methods to constrain complex processes in hydrogen systems and assess the challenges of conventional reservoir modelling for hydrogen migration.
Keywords: basins, causal relationships, hydrogen, earth, migration, modelling, resource, velocity.
Dr Bhavik Lodhia a Research Scientist at CSIRO Environment, specialises in modelling basin-scale hydrogen migration for applications in natural hydrogen exploration, underground storage, and groundwater risk management. He serves as a Volume Editor at the Geological Society of London and a review editor for Frontiers in Earth Sciences, alongside his role as a peer reviewer for top Earth Science journals. Dr Lodhia was awarded a PhD in Geology and Geophysics from Imperial College London and an undergraduate degree from the University of Oxford. His work spans sediment dynamics, basin modelling, resource estimation, fluid dynamics, geodynamics, and geochemical tracing. Dr Lodhia holds honorary positions at Imperial College London and the University of New South Wales, Sydney, and was honoured with the Early Career Award at the 2023 Australasian Exploration Geoscience Conference. Active within the Australian Society of Exploration Geophysics, he served as Secretary of the NSW branch in 2022. |
Dr Luk Peeters has over 15 years of research experience in risk and impact analysis and water resources management, with an emphasis on conceptualisation, numerical modelling and uncertainty analysis, geostatistics and machine learning. He obtained his PhD in Geology from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) and joined CSIRO Land and Water in 2010 as a Research Scientist. Dr Peeters leads the Risk and Impact Analysis Team in the Trusted Environmental and Geological Information Program, which evaluates potential impact on water and the environment of energy resource developments, such as hydrogen, oil, and gas in Queensland. He has authored over 70 peer-reviewed international journal papers and reports, including the Australian Groundwater Modelling Guidelines and the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Unconventional Gas Development and Large Coal Mining Development Explanatory Note on Uncertainty Analysis in Groundwater Modelling. |
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