Transmission, Distribution & Storage
Well Integrity in Salt Cavern Hydrogen Storage
Jul 2024
Publication
Underground hydrogen storage (UHS) in salt caverns is a sustainable energy solution to reduce global warming. Salt rocks provide an exceptional insulator to store natural hydrogen as they have low porosity and permeability. Nevertheless the salt creeping nature and hydrogeninduced impact on the operational infrastructure threaten the integrity of the injection/production wells. Furthermore the scarcity of global UHS initiatives indicates that investigations on well integrity remain insufficient. This study strives to profoundly detect the research gap and imperative considerations for well integrity preservation in UHS projects. The research integrates the salt critical characteristics the geomechanical and geochemical risks and the necessary measurements to maintain well integrity. The casing mechanical failure was found as the most challenging threat. Furthermore the corrosive and erosive effects of hydrogen atoms on cement and casing may critically put the well integrity at risk. The research also indicated that the simultaneous impact of temperature on the salt creep behavior and hydrogen-induced corrosion is an unexplored area that has scope for further research. This inclusive research is an up-to-date source for analysis of the previous advancements current shortcomings and future requirements to preserve well integrity in UHS initiatives implemented within salt caverns.
A Review of Type V Composite Pressure Vessels and Automated Fibre Placement Based Manufacturing
Feb 2023
Publication
Hydrogen is emerging as a promising future energy medium in a wide range of industries. For mobile applica tions it is commonly stored in a gaseous state within high-pressure composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs). The current state of the art pressure vessel technology known as Type V eliminates the internal polymer gas barrier used in Type IV vessels and instead relies on carbon fibre laminate to provide structural properties and prevent gas leakage. Achieving this functionality at high pressure poses several engineering challenges that have thus far prohibited commercial application. Additionally the traditional manufacturing process for COPVs filament winding has several constraints that limit the design space. Automated fibre placement (AFP) a highly flexible robotic composites manufacturing technique has the potential to replace filament winding for composite pressure vessel manufacturing and provide pathways for further vessel optimi sation. A combination of both AFP and Type V technology could provide an avenue for a new generation of highperformance composite pressure vessels. This critical review presents key work on industry-standard Type IV vessels alongside the current state of Type V CPV technology including manufacturing developments challenges cost relevance to commercial standards and future fabrication solutions using AFP. Additionally a novel Type V CPV design concept for a two-piece AFP produced vessel is presented.
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