Interfacial properties of the hydrogen+brine system in the presence of hydrophilic silica

by Xinyu Yao, Arun Kumar Narayanan Nair, Mohd Fuad Anwari Che Ruslan, Shuyu Sun, Bicheng Yan
Year: 2025 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2024.12.417

Extra Information

 International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

 Volume 101, 3 February 2025, Pages 741-749

Abstract

Geological storage of hydrogen in saline aquifers can be important for a successful transition to a hydrogen economy. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was carried out to study the bulk and interfacial properties of the H2+brine (NaCl), H2+brine (KCl), and H2+brine (CaCl2) systems. The temperature, pressure, and salt concentration for the studied systems are in the ranges of 323-423 K, 14-150 MPa, 0-5.4 mol/kg, respectively. For H2 solubility, the salting-out effect follows the order KCl< NaCl<CaCl2. All MD results of the interfacial tension (IFT) agree qualitatively well with the predictions of the density gradient theory. Our computed IFTs of the H2+brine (NaCl) system are also in reasonable agreement with the experimental results. The simulated fluid–fluid IFTs are obtained in the range of 45.2-80.8 mN/m for the studied systems. These IFTs are not significantly affected by pressure, and they decrease as a function of temperature. The higher the salt concentration, the higher the IFT. An important result is that the IFT values follow the order KCl<NaCl<CaCl2. A negative surface excess is found for the ions, which explains the increase of IFT with salt content. The interfacial properties of the corresponding H2+brine+silica (hydrophilic) system were also studied using MD simulation. The water CAs are obtained in the range of 42.5-72.2° for the studied systems. These water CAs are not significantly affected by pressure or temperature. The water CAs seem to follow the order KCl<NaCl≈CaCl2. Overall, the IFT between rock and H is much higher than that between rock and brine for all conditions. H2 is negligibly adsorbed at the interface between the water droplet and the rock. The capillary pressure of the H2+brine+silica system was found to be higher than that of the CO2+brine+silica system, indicating that CO2 may be used as a cushion gas to withdraw H2 stored in saline aquifers.