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Fundamental Research
News 05 January 2024

The origins of natural hydrogen emissions deep within our continents: the veil is lifted

The climate challenges facing humanity are driving research into alternatives to fossil energies and have led to a significant upsurge in interest in the “hydrogen solution” in recent years. Hydrogen is rightly considered to be an energy vector but it has now been established that molecular hydrogen (H2) also exists naturally in the form of diffuse or continuous seepage escaping from certain geological formations.

Individual page

Isabelle KOWALEWSKI

Research Engineer - PhD.
Geochemistry (petroleum system and soil) and Basin modelling (TemisFlow®)
Geoscientist specialising in the geochemistry of petroleum systems, with a solid background in physico-chemical analysis and basin modelling. 30 years experience in applied research at IFPEN. Involved
Natural gas in marine sediments: a climate issue?
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Natural gas in marine sediments: a climate issue?

Just like carbon dioxide (CO2), but with a much higher GWPa, methane CH4) is a gas which, according to the IEAb, is responsible for around 30% of the increase in global temperatures since the industrial revolution...
Geosciences
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The unlikely ellipticity of eigen modes of propagation of transmitted seismic body waves in homogeneous viscoelastic anisotropic media.

The hypothesis of elliptical particle motion of eigen body S-waves projected on a supposed common plane of elliptical polarization of any one of the eigen S-wave vectors S1, S2 associated to a given
Individual page

Julien COATLÉVEN

Research engineer in scientific computing
Julien Coatléven graduated from ENSTA (Paris) and completed his doctoral thesis in Applied Mathematics at Ecole Polytechnique (Paris) and INRIA Rocquencourt. After completing post-doctoral research at
Issue 46 of Science@ifpen - Earth Sciences and Environmental Technologies
News in brief

Colloid transport in porous media: deposits and plugging

The transport of colloidal particles in porous media is relevant to a number of fields, including geosciences and environmental engineering. Particle-matrix interactions can lead to deposit formation and accumulation, potentially damaging the medium and altering its permeability. (...) At IFPEN, the problem was originally studied for oil and gas production, but research has now been extended to include the fields of geothermal energy and geological storage of CO2.
Issue 46 of Science@ifpen - Earth Sciences and Environmental Technologies
News in brief

Geoheritage and geodiversity accessible to all thanks to digital technology

Emerging in the 1990s, the notions of geoheritage and geodiversity have been receiving growing attention from academic communities, international organizations and public authorities. (...) It was in this context that, in 2020, IFPEN signed a partnership agreement with UNESCO, one of the objectives of which is to share digital tools facilitating the promotion of geoheritage and geodiversity to the general public...
Issue 46 of Science@ifpen - Earth Sciences and Environmental Technologies
News in brief

X-rays and Neutrons for imaging salt migration

Salt precipitation in permeable rocks is a risk faced by some energy sectors, particularly for gas storage in geological formations during operational phases (injection and extraction), when there is contact with saline aquifers. (...) This precipitation reduces the space where fluids can circulate, altering rock permeability, or even leading to plugging under certain conditions. In order to understand the underlying mechanisms behind this damaging phenomenon, experiments examining gas flow in a brine-saturated porous medium were conducted on IFPEN’s CAL-X flow test bench...
Issue 46 of Science@ifpen - Earth Sciences and Environmental Technologies
News in brief

Underground modeling: an essential step for the energy transition

To address the challenges of the energy transition, the subsurface has an important role to play, both in terms of providing resources and offering storage solutions. (...) Numerical models can help gain a better understanding of the subsurface with a view to its long-term management and optimal use. Developed for a number of years now at IFPEN, initially for the petroleum industry, such models cover scales ranging from the sedimentary basin to the reservoir...
Issue 46 of Science@ifpen - Earth Sciences and Environmental Technologies
News in brief

Global change, impact on landscapes and water resources

Today, the impact of climate change and human activities on the evolution of landscapes and water resources is a major challenge. Predicting it requires dedicated tools capable of evaluating, 100 years ahead, the consequences of different scenarios on watersheds and groundwater. To this end, IFPEN is developing modeling approaches targeting erosion-transport-deposition phenomena combined with surface and subsurface flows. ...
Issue 46 of Science@ifpen - Earth Sciences and Environmental Technologies
News in brief

Rock-Eval®: supporting soil research for the climate challenge

One way to decrease the amount of atmospheric CO2 is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of fossil origin, but it is also possible to increase the quantities of carbon stored in the soil. (...) In the current context of climate change, understanding the evolution of carbon in the ground is critically important. It is for this reason that IFPEN wanted to study the potential offered by Rock-Eval®, a flagship of oil research...