Clay minerals trap hydrogen in the Earth's crust: Evidence from the Cigar Lake uranium deposit, Athabasca

Truche, Laurent; Joubert, G. D.; Dargent, Maxime; Martz, Pierre; Cathelineau, ‪Michel; Rigaudier, Thomas; Quirt, David

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2018.04.038

Cited by 75 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Moreover, the water saturation in soils down to the piezometric level (upper level of the water table) is quite low due to the dryness of the area, and reflected in the monitoring months during the dry season, as the soils are mainly sandy. It could be said that molecular hydrogen adsorption in clay minerals in soils is decreased in sufficient amount to account for analyzed hydrogen content [48], although no real quantification of this process is available to support the idea. The important point to be made is that from current data, hydrogen in soils in the structure is recharged daily, implying a source of hydrogen generation below the surface gas seeps.…”

Section: Daily Cyclementioning

confidence: 99%

Natural hydrogen continuous emission from sedimentary basins: The example of a Brazilian H2-emitting structure

Prinzhofer

Moretti

Francolin³

et al. 2019

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

112

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et al.. Natural hydrogen continuous emission from sedimentary basins: The example of a Brazilian H2emitting structure. apos;agostino, et al.. Natural hydrogen continuous emission from sedimentary basins: The example of a Brazilian H2-emitting structure. Available online xxx Keywords: Natural hydrogen Soil micro-seeps Hydrogen geochemical soil monitoring São Francisco basin a b s t r a c tHydrogen escaping from sedimentary basins has already been described in various parts of the world. Some of these leakages have been identified by superficial circular depressions, also called "fairy circles". Gas detection measurements, randomly repeated after a few months have shown that the amount of hydrogen present in soils is not constant neither versus time nor versus position in a given structure. Permanent monitoring gas analyzers were installed in the ground to estimate hydrogen flow outgassing from a topographical circular depression located in Brazil. Data show that a hydrogen flux occurs during the hottest moment of the day, as shown with permanent sensors set at a regular spacing. The process may look like a soil evaporation. In that same structure, other detectors show much higher and irregular gas output which present an unclear correlation as a function of ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure. The relationship with temperature suggests a role of water saturation driving the overall hydrogen fluxes. The reported geochemical data imply that (1) one measurement taken at a given hour on a structure cannot be considered as quantitative, as it varies too much with time and is also probably related to the soil perturbation induced by the shallow drilling, (2) hydrogen released through the soils of the studied structure is recharged daily, (3) hydrogen flux is high enough to reach the surface without being buffered by water or bacterial activity within the soil and (4) soil cannot be solely considered as a hydrogen sink but also, at least in some areas, as a hydrogen emitter.This appears to highlight that the subsurface may be considered in this site as a source of natural hydrogen, clearly differentiated from a biochemical system of atmospheric H 2 consumed by bacteria.

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Section: Daily Cyclementioning

confidence: 99%

Natural hydrogen continuous emission from sedimentary basins: The example of a Brazilian H2-emitting structure

Prinzhofer

Moretti

Francolin³

et al. 2019

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

112

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“…Figure 5B shows that the air flux profiles are nearly linear if they originate in only the upper 10 m of the profiles shown in Figure 3. Their linearity indicates that the upper part of the vent is behaving like the simple box model defined in Equation (16) where it is assumed that all the air in the subsurface is compressed equally and at the same time as the surface pressure changes. In the box case, the integrated flux will increase linearly from zero at z b , as is nearly the case in Figure 5B.…”

Section: Pressure-driven Subsurface Gas Fluxesmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Pulsating H2 Emissions Suggest about the H2 Resource in the Sao Francisco Basin of Brazil

Cathles

Prinzhofer²

2020

Geosciences

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Proterozoic sedimentary basins very often emit natural hydrogen gas that may be a valuable part of a non-carbon energy infrastructure. Vents in the Sao Francisco Basin in Brazil release hydrogen to the atmosphere mainly during the daylight half of the day. Daily temperature and the regular daily tidal atmospheric pressure variations have been suggested as possible causes of the pulsing of H2 venting. Here, we analyze a ~550 m-diameter depression that is barren of vegetation and venting hydrogen mainly at its periphery. We show that daily temperature changes propagated only ~1/2 m into the subsurface and are thus too shallow to explain the H2 variations measured at 1-m depth. Pressure changes could propagate deeply enough, and at the depth at which the cyclic variations are measured hydrogen concentration will have the observed phase relationship to atmospheric pressure changes provided: (1) the pressure wave is terminated by geologic barriers at about 25% of its full potential penetration distance, and (2) the volume of gas in the vents is very small compared to the volume of gas tapped by the venting. These constraints suggest that there is a shallow gas reservoir above the water table under the ~550 m-diameter barren-of-vegetation depression. The 1D-analytical and finite-element calculations presented in this paper help define the hydrogen system and suggest the further steps needed to characterize its volume, hydrogen flux and resource potential.

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“…Then, new covalent bonds will form between electronegative montmorillonite and H atoms in H 2 O weakening the H-O bond energy and lowering the activation energy required for H-O bond rupture in water which contributes to the generation of additional H 2 in a similar way to salt solutions. Besides, according to the recent research of Truche et al (2018), some H 2 can be adsorbed by minerals and the adsorption ability of kaolinite is higher than montmorillonite. That is to say, the detected radiolytic H 2 of kaolinite might be far lower than that of montmorillonite sample which needs further research.…”

Section: The Addition Of Solid Minerals and Their Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radioactive Genesis of Hydrogen Gas under Geological Conditions: an Experimental Study

Wang

Liu

Zhang

et al. 2019

Acta Geologica Sinica (Eng)

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The coexistence of hydrogen-containing materials and radioactive substances in source rocks is universal. Few documents have researched whether the latter can radiate the former to generate hydrogen gas (H 2 ) as well as the factors controlling this process. This work conducted a series of radiation experiments to address this issue. Samples were placed in sealed Pyrex glass containers and subject to cobalt ( 60 Co) γ irradiation and components and contents of resultant gases were analyzed using gas-chromatography. The results show that all the samples released variable amounts of H 2 after irradiation and that the yield (H 2 ) of decane is lower than that of 3-tetradecylthiophene but higher than that of distilled water, which implies that a weaker H-X bond energy (X indicates O, C or other element) in homogeneous materials corresponds with increased yield (H 2 ). The yields (H 2 ) of samples decreased with the decreasing solutions concentrations in sequence from mixed salts solution, KCl solution, Yellow Sea water, oil field water, gypsum solution to distilled water. The experimental results also show that the yield (H 2 ) of distilled water with montmorillonite is higher than that of distilled water with kaolinite, because due to the larger specific surface area, ion exchange capacity and more effective energy transfer effect of montmorillonite. Meanwhile, the irradiation of oxygen-and carbon-containing materials also releases O 2 and CH 4 . The production of H 2 via the irradiation of hydrogen-containing materials makes the involvement of exogenous H 2 into hydrocarbon generation possible, which can enhance the hydrocarbon volume and optimize crude oil.

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Clay minerals trap hydrogen in the Earth's crust: Evidence from the Cigar Lake uranium deposit, Athabasca

Cited by 75 publications

References 47 publications

Natural hydrogen continuous emission from sedimentary basins: The example of a Brazilian H2-emitting structure

Natural hydrogen continuous emission from sedimentary basins: The example of a Brazilian H2-emitting structure

What Pulsating H2 Emissions Suggest about the H2 Resource in the Sao Francisco Basin of Brazil

Radioactive Genesis of Hydrogen Gas under Geological Conditions: an Experimental Study

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