Strategies for hydrogen storage in a depleted sandstone reservoir from the San Joaquin Basin, California (USA) based on high-fidelity numerical simulations

Abstract

Depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs are promising candidates for underground hydrogen (H2) storage (UHS) due to their known (and often high) storage capacity, well-identified geological conditions, reduced cushion gas requirements, and adaptable existing infrastructure. While these reservoirs have shown success in natural gas storage, their performance for pure H2 storage remains untested, necessitating further research. To address this knowledge gap, we conduct high-fidelity multiphase compositional reservoir simulations to evaluate the technical feasibility of UHS in a depleted hydrocarbon reservoir within the Temblor Formation at the North Belridge Field from the San Joaquin Basin, California, USA. This reservoir zone comprises five distinct sand layers separated by four shale intervals and is bounded above and below by thick shales (overburden and underburden, respectively). This research has two primary objectives: (a) to assess the feasibility of two distinct UHS strategies—one that involves storing H2 across all sand layers and another that stores an equal amount of H2 in the single thickest sand layer, and (b) to evaluate the effect of interbedded shale permeability on UHS performance. Our findings indicate that UHS in the Temblor Formation is technically viable, showing enhanced H2 withdrawal efficiency and produced H2 purity over successive cycles with minimal leakage risk. The two storage strategies significantly impact UHS performance in the interbedded sandstone sequence. Storing H2 across all sand layers results in higher H2 withdrawal efficiency, but lower produced H2 purity. In contrast, storing H2 in a single sand layer leads to lower withdrawal efficiency but consistently high H2 purity. In addition, H2 storage in a single sand layer results in higher reservoir pressure buildup, implying greater geomechanical risks. The impact of interbedded shale permeability on UHS performance is negligible across the range of uncertainty for shale permeability. This research not only lays the groundwork for potential UHS implementation in the abundant sandstones of the San Joaquin Basin of California, but also offers valuable insights for other depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs under consideration for UHS that share similar properties.