Comparison of the properties of Portland cement with 0-D and 1-D reinforcement of alumina nanomaterials with implications on hydrogen storage

There is general agreement that burning fossil fuels and growing atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions ramp up global warming. Renewable energy is a realistic alternative to meet the world’s energy needs while minimizing emissions associated with fossil fuels. The emergence of hydrogen as a dependable source of clean energy over the globe may be aided by underground hydrogen storage in depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs. Establishing the practicality of underground hydrogen storage in the subsurface depends on well integrity. Cement slurries containing nanoparticles have proved helpful in downhole conditions where neat cement slurries lead to complications. In this study, the stability, rheological, and mechanical properties along with the permeability of highly dispersed alumina nanofibers (ANF) (1-D) are compared to nanoalumina particles (0-D) to evaluate how the change in the structure of the nanomaterials affects the various properties of class H cement. The rheology, stability, and compressive strength tests of the cement reinforced with nanomaterials were conducted after hydrogen exposure for 8 min at 0.68 MPa. The results demonstrate that nanoalumina particles were more effective than ANF in increasing the compressive and tensile strength of the cement after 24 h of curing at 65.5 °C and 27.57 MPa. However, there was no significant change in the rheology, stability, permeability, modulus of elasticity, Poisson’s ratio, and thickening time of the cement slurries. The main objective of this study is to determine the usefulness of including nanomaterials in cementing operations as a wellbore integrity perspective in future geological storage applications.