Mitigating Microbial Artifacts in Laboratory Research of H2 Energy Geo-storage

Abstract

Today our energy sectors are focusing on the marathon of CO2 cut and coherently require progress in energy transition schemes to meet the UN climate change challenge and achieve a zero-emission target. Among these schemes, radioactive disposal, CO2, NH3, and H2 geological storage are promising options for fixing anthropogenic waste, greenhouse gases and storing green energy in the depleted oil/gas reservoirs, deep saline aquifers, and salt caverns. Consequently, this could be achieved through rigorous research and development (R&D) projects involving laboratory-scale experiments. Despite the ubiquity of microorganisms in various environments, their potential impact on laboratory studies in fields outside of the biological sciences is not well established. In particular, their presence in research related to new energy technologies, such as hydrogen storage, poses a significant risk to experimental integrity. Microorganisms can consume hydrogen and other substances, leading to potentially misleading results. This oversight can have profound implications, especially when studying geological formations where microbial contamination might alter the properties and behaviours of reservoir rocks. Thus, it is crucial to incorporate sterile controls in experiments to accurately assess the influence of independent variables and to discern the specific effects of microbial presence. The effect of ultraviolet (UV), autoclave, oven heating, ethanol 75%, ethanol 95%, and gamma irradiation for cleaning microorganisms in the sand were investigated Interestingly, our experimental results revealed that gamma irradiation and autoclave heating are the most vibrant options for extinguishing microorganisms from the surface of the rock and saying no to the risk of experimental error in future work reflecting geological storage applications.

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Identifiers

DOI

10.31223/x5h41t

Journal

Unknown journal

Year

2024