Decarbonization

Experimental Study Generates Enhanced Hydrogen With Olivine Sand

This study concludes that it is relatively easy to generate enhanced hydrogen in the laboratory during injection of high-pH aqueous solution through a pack of olivine sand.

μCT images of reacted grains from the (a) inlet and (b) outlet with 2D surfaces for visualization
Fig. 1—μCT images of reacted grains from the (a) inlet and (b) outlet with 2D surfaces for visualization. Components are segmented based on density and morphology. Volumetric analysis was performed inside the dashed cylinders. The voxel length (0.96 μm) does not allow for segmentation of the comparatively thin serpentine coating at the inlet. At the outlet, the serpentine coating is approximately 10–100 μm in thickness and accounts for 31% of the mineral volume. Local porosity measurements are 43.8% for the inlet and 53.2% for the outlet.
Source: SPE 220916.

An experimental setup was created to study serpentinization of an olivine sand sample and study hydrogen (H2) production. Inspired by so-called “white” hydrogen sources, enhanced serpentinization of olivine represents an attractive opportunity to produce hydrogen from geological resources. Preliminary results suggest that it is possible to enhance, at laboratory scale, serpentinization of olivine and generate hydrogen with significant H2 compositional yields. The authors’ findings are supported by produced-gas analysis and evidence collected on the reacted sample.

Introduction

The complete paper reports on a laboratory experiment to produce hydrogen through induced olivine serpentinization using a proof-of-concept experimental apparatus that permits examination of the role of rock composition, its surface area, solution pH and composition, and temperature on H2 production under flow conditions.

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