Lecturers: Hadi Hajibeygi & Herminio Honório

Hadi is a professor of Geo-Energy Solid and Fluid Mechanics at Delft University of Technology. His research centers around advancing modeling and simulation sciences for processes in geological reservoirs – both experimental and computational, specially addressing multiscale heterogeneity and uncertainties across scales. Hadi holds a PhD with medal from ETH Zurich in Fluid Dynamics and was a Postdoc Scholar at Stanford University Energy Resources Engineering before joining TU Delft in 2013. The applications of his research include underground hydrogen storage science and technology, as well as carbon dioxide storage and well as geothermal energy exploitation.

• Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.nl/citations?user=T9q3vYQAAAAJ&hl=en
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hadihajibeygi/?originalSubdomain=nl

Herminio is a senior postdoctoral researcher at TU Delft, ADMIRE research group. He works on elastic and plastic mechanical deformation modeling and simulation of rocks under cyclic loading. He has been the main developer of the open-source SafeInCave simulator which will be used in this course. Herminio holds PhD from the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil.

• Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dF8ecL4AAAAJ&hl=en
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/herminioth?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app

Course Description:

The development of salt caverns for compressed air and hydrogen storage is experiencing significant growth. Ensuring the safe and efficient operation of these storage systems requires a thorough understanding of the mechanical stability of salt caverns under varying operational conditions. This can be achieved through numerical simulations, validated by benchmarking against laboratory and field observation data.

Salt caverns, much like porous reservoirs, are heterogeneous in nature, often containing insoluble interlayers. Additionally, their mechanical behavior under cyclic loading shares several mathematical similarities with that of porous reservoirs. In the transition to a greener world, salt caverns and porous reservoirs are being developed collaboratively to support the storage and supply of hydrogen.

This course will address many of the challenges associated with simulating salt caverns, many of which are also relevant to porous reservoir modeling. Participants will gain insights into the complexities of these systems and the methodologies for tackling them effectively.

Attendees will gain in-depth knowledge and hands-on experience in mechanics modeling and simulations, with a focus on salt caverns and their relevance to porous media. The course covers the fundamental concepts of salt rock mechanics and constitutive modeling, including guidelines for parameter calibration. These concepts are directly applicable to porous rock mechanics as well.

Participants will explore mathematical and numerical formulations for nonlinear mechanics in detail. The course also addresses the application of appropriate boundary conditions consistent with in-situ cavern loads.

A key feature of the course is hands-on practice with the open-source simulator SafeInCave, where attendees can apply the theoretical concepts learned. Participants will learn how to create various geometries and meshes, configure input files, and run diverse scenarios using SafeInCave.

By the end of the course, participants will be encouraged to develop their own constitutive models and simulations for salt rock mechanics. This collaborative approach will allow for comparison and discussion of results, enhancing understanding and application of the concepts.

Dates: The course will take place on the following days and times:

• Friday, February 14th, 2025                (10:00-16:00 Central European Time)
• Monday, February 17th, 2025             (10:00-16:00 Central European Time)

Course access information and more details will be sent to all participants the week before the course start. For questions, please contact karolin.weber@interpore.org.

Important note: All lectures will be offered live, and participants are expected to attend all sessions in order to be granted a certificate of attendance. Recordings of the lectures will be provided in most cases within 24 hours after each session. These recordings will be available for 1 month following course completion. Please note that sharing the recordings with others is not permitted.