Project description

Climate change is accelerating due to human dependence on fossil fuels. Spain's PNIEC 2021-2030 aims for a 23% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030, yet 2022 emissions reached 305 Mt CO2eq, a 5.17% increase from 1990. Underground CO2 storage is a key mitigation strategy. Simultaneously, the need for renewable energy storage is rising, with hydrogen (H2) storage in geological formations offering a potential solution.

Ensuring the permanence of stored CO2 and H2 requires an understanding of reservoir and caprock integrity. The main concerns include:

• Leakage risks via faults, fractures, and wellbore defects.
• Surface uplift and induced seismicity from fluid injection.
• Hydromechanical and chemical interactions affecting rock properties.

Research Objectives

This project aims to improve numerical characterization of leakage risks through wellbore micro-annuli, rock discontinuities, and faults. It focuses on:

1. Mathematical Modeling: Coupled thermal-chemical interactions in geomaterials and fluids.
2. Constitutive Modeling: Stress-path-dependent rock and discontinuity behavior.
3. Numerical Modeling: phase-field variational numerical tool for fracture evolution in deformable media in FEM and MPM.

Hypotheses

• Supercritical CO2 alters mineral composition, affecting mechanical stability.
• Phase-field multiphysics models capture fluid-driven fracture propagation.
• MPM overcomes mesh distortion issues seen in FEM for complex fractures.
• Reservoir pressure thresholds critical for mechanical stability and leakage risks can be identified.

Expected Outcomes

• Enhanced constitutive models for geological storage.
• Predictive tools for leakage risks, stability, and seismicity.
• Operational guidelines for safe CO2 and H2 storage.

This research advances climate mitigation strategies by improving underground gas storage safety and efficiency.

Brief description of the Centre/Research Group

The Centro I+D+i en Infraestructuras Civiles Inteligentes y Sostenibles (CIVILis) at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) focuses on advancing intelligent and sustainable civil infrastructures. The center integrates cutting-edge technology, sustainability principles, geomechanics for environmental and energy applications, and computational geomechanics to address modern infrastructure challenges.

Key Research Areas:

• Intelligent Infrastructure: Smart systems for real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, and resilience enhancement.
• Sustainable Design: Eco-friendly materials and circular economy approaches for low-carbon infrastructure.
• Geomechanics for Environment & Energy: Soil and rock behavior modeling for CO2 sequestration, geothermal energy, and underground storage.
• Computational Mechanics: Development and application of numerical modeling techniques (FEM, MPM, DEM) to analyze complex geotechnical problems, such as landslides, subsidence, and reservoir geomechanics in underground energy storage and CO2 injection projects. 
• Hydraulic & Environmental Engineering: Water resource management, flood control, and conservation strategies.
• Structural Engineering: Experimental and numerical research on durability and performance of materials and structures.

Documents to be submitted

Interested candidates should submit a CV, a cover letter detailing relevant experience, and contact information for references. For more information, please reach out to Dr. Diego Manzanal (UPM). Deadline: 30th April 2025