NAFTA is an international company with extensive experience in natural gas storage and underground facility development in Slovakia. It is also Slovakia’s leader in exploration and production of hydrocarbons. In Europe, the company actively operates gas storage facilities, explores and produces hydrocarbons and participates in renewable energy storage projects. NAFTA provides development, engineering and advisory services for facilities with overall storage capacity of approximately 64 TWh. In addition to Slovakia, the company is present in the Czech Republic, Germany, Great Britain, Austria, Hungary and Ukraine.
Core business:
- Mining and mining-type activities
- Prospecting and exploration of listed minerals
- Opening, preparing and exploration of hydrocarbons, their treatment and refining
- Designing underground and surface hydrocarbon and waste storage facilities
- NAFTA is a partner in various hydrogen projects – HyStorage, H2EU+Store, HyUsPRe
Technical University of Košice
- Research and testing of H2 chemical reactivity with odorant;
- Research and testing of the homogeneity of H2 and natural gas mixture;
- Preparation of Slovak National Hydrogen strategy.
DBI
DBI Gas- und Umwelttechnik GmbH (DBI) emerged on January 9th, 1991 from the gas engineering department of the German Fuel Institute Freiberg and became a unique and leading engineering and research company that is unique in Europe in recent years. As the only company in Germany, DBI covers the entire value chain of gas supply, from production, underground storage and pipeline transport to the efficient and environmentally friendly use of renewable energy sources. DBI combines both the development of new technologies for the use of regenerative gaseous energy sources and the practical implementation of innovative technologies. As a mediator between universities, research institutions and the gas industry, DBI makes a decisive contribution to the sustainable energy industry. The principle of the company is the comprehensive approach, combining individual business areas.
In the field of underground gas storage, one of DBI’s main activities is research and development in the field of hydrogen storage in cavern- and porous UGS facilities. Here, DBI actively contributes to the energy transition towards hydrogen by fundamental research as well as technical engineering services for various clients. Focus is enabling the safe and economic feasible underground storage operation including gas treatment and separation. Fields of work include:
- Technical questions regarding suitability and safety / integrity of geological structures for H2-storage (porous formations and salt structures for caverns)
- Materials for subsurface completion (cement, steel, special completion equipment, sealings) and surface equipment, e.g. permeation, safety,…
- Integrity evaluation of the system Tubing, Packer, Casing – cementation – formation (tightness, corrosion) incl. thermal – mechanical – hydraulically coupled stress evaluation
- Optimization of storage operation: caverns and porous UGS, incl. reservoir engineering
- Development of Processes for Gas Treatment
- Membrane process for separation of H2 from Natural Gas (Membrane development and testing facility)
- Adsorption Treatment
- Analysis Services
- Development and Testing + incl. process control / EMSR (EMPIR-projects with PTB, NPL, BAM)
- Odorization of Hydrogen
- Power to X (H2 + CO2 -> X (Gaseous, liquid)
- Bio-UGS – biological conversion of carbon dioxide and hydrogen to methane
- NAMOSYN – production of synthetic fuel (OME)
- Hythanol – Membrane reactor for production of Methanol
A brief company history
The Gesteinslabor Dr. Eberhard Jahns was founded in January 1997 as a provider for standard and special laboratory tests on rock samples. The laboratory is located in Heiligenstadt and thus in the heart of Germany and Europe. From the very beginning, it has specialised in the most demanding laboratory services and has become the national market
Leader in just a few years.
The Gesteinslabor is an independent service provider and guarantees the strictest confidentiality of all information and data it learns in the course of a project. At the client’s request, it works with the most recognised consultants from around the world.
In 2005, Eberhard Jahns as the owner of the Gesteinslabor was entered in the commercial register of the Mühlhausen district court. In the same year, a considerable investment was made to expand the range of services quantitatively and qualitatively, in particular to meet the needs of the international oil and gas industry. Today, the Gesteinslabor Dr. Eberhard Jahns makes more than 50% of its turnover in international business, mainly with clients from Europe and Northern Africa, but also with companies from the Middle East and Asia. Most customers come from the following industries:
- oil and gas production
- underground gas storage
- mining
- deep geothermal drilling
- underground waste disposal
In 2010, a second significant expansion of the laboratory space and the technical equipment took place to meet the growing demand for high-precision laboratory services. Several new technologies and devices completed the equipment in 2013. The laboratory space today covers more than 1000 square meters and is equipped with cutting-edge technology in rock mechanics and rock physics.
One of the most outstanding services offered is the investigation of the sealing capacities of caprock from underground storage for gas, oil and nuclear waste. Starting with drill core preservation directly at the rig site, Gesteinslabor is one of only very few laboratories that offers an experimental testing procedure for the determination of the threshold pressure on caprock under reservoir conditions. The investigated rock in these projects as well as in most of the other projects worked on is claystone and shale.
Starting in 2022, Gesteinslabor offers an extended procedure: the determination of the threshold pressure with hydrogen as the measurement gas as well as with mixtures from hydrogen and methane. With this procedure, Gesteinslabor is contributing to the energy transition as a necessary response to global climate change.
Slovak Academy of Science
- Earth Science Institute SAS has scientific research potential and an instrument base suitable for highly qualified applied research of hydrogen interaction with individual components of energy storage, and identification of potential storage sites in Slovakia;
- In 2007-2013, the Earth Science Institute SAS (ESI SAS) established a geological research laboratory for EUR 8,330,000, while EUR 8,100,000 was funded by the operational programme for R&D and EUR 230,000 was funded by the institute and governmental budget. Institutional research infrastructure (http://www.geo.sav.sk/en/structure-of-the-institute/laboratories/) will be used for project purposes;
- ESI SAS scientists will contribute to the research solution not only with knowledge, but also with experience from basic and applied research with a focus on carbon storage and sequestration, exploring geological structures suitable for gas storage, research of rocks and minerals and interactions with the surrounding environment, sequestration of CO2 in minerals, and exploration of conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon deposits;
- ESI SAS researchers have collaborated on international projects supported by the EU and industrial sources dealing with the issue of carbon storage, e.g. EU FP6-funded projects CASTOR and GeoCapacity (2004-2008) focused on the possibilities of geological storage of CO2 in European countries, the CO2NET EAST (CO2 Capture and Storage Networking Extension to the New Member States) – coordination action of the 6th Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities (2006-2010).
MicroPro GmbH
MicroPro GmbH has been performing microbiological services and research in the fields of geomicrobiology, reservoir- and underground storage microbiology for over 50 years. From long-term cooperation with partners from oil- and gas industry the most common technical problems in underground storages due to microbial activities are known. In the course of microbiological work, numerous town gas and natural gas underground storages in Germany were examined and assessed, such as Ketzin, Buchholz, Teutschental and Kirchheiligen, Wolfersberg, Salzwedel-Peckensen, Reitbrook as well as many oil deposits. This results in extensive experience in handling corresponding samples and evaluating and interpreting generated data. Various strategies for the treatment of microbial risks have been developed on behalf of numerous companies operating underground storages or geothermal plants.
MicroPro has already dealt with the possible influence of hydrogen on microbial populations in the deep biosphere in the context of several research topics. The focus was on the identification and evaluation of possible risks and the development of appropriate treatment strategies.
- Selective biological conversion of carbon dioxide and hydrogen to methane in porous underground storage (BioUGS) – 3 years research, cooperation project (Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research , Germany)
- Stimulation and risk potential of hydrogen-utilizing microorganisms (HyBioRisks) – 3 years research, cooperation project (Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany)
- Hydrogen Storage In European Subsurface (HyStorIES) –2 years research, cooperation project (Funded by the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No 101007176)
- Influence of biogas and hydrogen on microbiology in underground storage facilities – literature study (DGMK, Germany)
- Process development for risk monitoring and treatment of microbiological processes in underground storage of renewable hydrogen (Funding from the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany)
- Studies on the influence of microbiological conversions on alteration of gas quality and gas reduction in the underground gas storage Ketzin, (internal research report on behalf of Erdöl-Erdgas Gommern, 1985)
- Microbiology of the ethylene caverns TV13 – Teutschenthal (1973- today, internal research reports)
- Brine-soluble bactericides for cavern storage, project duration 1976-1978, internal research report 10/1978, Research institute petroleum-natural gas Gommern
- Qualitative and quantitative studies on the anaerobic microbial conversion of propane and butane (H2, CO2) in brine. Project duration 1974-1977, internal research report 06/1977, Research institute petroleum-natural gas Gommern
- Microbiology of the storage of diesel fuel in caverns. Project duration 1974-1977, internal research report 10/1977, Research institute petroleum-natural gas Gommern
- Investigation to suppress microbiom activity in the operating phase of the caverns by using bactericides, project duration 1973-1976, internal research report 03/1974, 08/1976, Research institute petroleum-natural gas Gommern
- Microbiology of VK88 storage in caverns – Wesenberg; internal research report 05/1975, Research institute petroleum-natural gas Gommern
- Numerous investigations on behalf of industry for microbial colonization and technical application of various biocides in underground storage facilities and plants – various internal reports.
Institute and previous projects
The Institute of Subsurface Energy Systems (ITE) at the Clausthal University of Technology headed by Prof. Dr. Leonhard Ganzer exhibits years of experience in the fields of numerical reservoir simulation, underground gas storage (H2 and CO2), geothermal energy and enhanced oil recovery. Their research is based on laboratory, analytical and numerical methods. The laboratories are equipped with conventional instruments for rock sample characterization. In addition, they have a core flooding setup which allows to perform two-phase flow experiments with arbitrary gas mixtures under in-situ reservoir conditions and two autoclave setups allowing long-term static experiments. The laboratory is equipped with the required safety feature to work with flammable gases, e.g. hydrogen, at any concentration.
The major part of the numerical work is based on the open-source simulator DuMux. They have adapted the code for the simulation of gas storage operations on simple two-dimensional but also on realistic three-dimensional geological models including the potentially occurring growth of biomass and coupled bio-chemical reactions.
The ITE was/is involved in following national and European research projects related to underground hydrogen storage:
H2STORE: Investigation of the H2-compatibility of pore storages
HYINTEGER: Investigation of the H2-compatibility of pore storages with focus on the near wellbore region
UMAS: Investigation of the feasibility of underground bio-methanation in the gas storage Berlin
HyUsPRe: Hydrogen Underground Storage in Porous Reservoirs
Institut de la Corrosion
Institut de la Corrosion is a private company established in 2002 with headquarter in Brest, and additional locations in Saint-Etienne and Lyon, France. Institut de la Corrosion is also a subsidiary of the Research Institutes Sweden (RISE). The company specializes in providing testing, failure analyses, technical support, and R&D services in corrosion science across various industrial sectors (transportation, cathodic protection, marine, building, energy, chemistry, etc.) with a peculiarity being that the activity is often positioned on niche markets and scientific programs implying non-standard testing or a need of a very high flexibility to adapt to specific inquiries. In the energy sector, a significant portion of the turnover is attributed to the low carbon energies and particularly to hydrogen. Institut de la Corrosion will support the HENRI project with fracture mechanics testing of metallic materials under hydrogen pressure.