KTU professor: In the depths of the earth lies a huge source of energy near Lithuania

In cooperation with international companies, Geoenergy Lab located at KTU “M-Lab” received almost 3 million dollars in support. EUR worth of software, which allows efficient modeling of the phenomena of the depths of the earth. This is important in order to develop opportunities for the use of clean energy, KTU said in a press release.

The head of the laboratory, located in KTU’s interdisciplinary experimental and prototyping laboratory center “M-Lab”, says that today Lithuania has a huge untapped potential that lies under the surface of the Earth – it is geothermal energy, which is unique to the surface of Lithuania.

M. Pal explains that geoenergy potential is the energy stored in the depths of the earth: “In Iceland, this phenomenon can be seen in geysers, from which steam of hot water rushes out. You can swim in hot water lakes in Thailand.

A lot of energy is stored on the surface of the earth, which needs to be used properly and sustainably. Also, our initial research showed the potential of hydrogen in the depths of the Lithuanian earth”, he shares.
According to the KTU scientist, this is a dynamic research group that aims to improve solutions in various areas, including optimization of hydrocarbon production, data mining for insights into the depths of the earth, geothermal energy, carbon dioxide capture and storage, as well as hydrogen production and storage technologies.

“Our multidisciplinary team of experts aims to uncover the untapped potential that lies beneath the Earth’s surface. From the optimization of oil extraction methods to the use of geothermal energy and innovative carbon dioxide neutralization technologies. We are leading the way in creating cleaner and more efficient energy,” says M. Pal.

The KTU professor explains that currently most of the laboratory’s activities are devoted to modeling and simulation. The research team is developing deep-earth models using high-performance computers to simulate the flow of deep-earth phenomena, he said.

For example, they have developed geological models of carbon dioxide (CO2) storage and sequestration. He is also developing geological models to assess the geothermal energy potential in Lithuania and developing hydrogen storage models.

“Furthermore, with the help of artificial intelligence (AI), the research group developed 3D realized features of the earth’s depths and advanced numerical methods for their simulation,” says M. Pal.

The research group is developing capabilities for in-house reactive transport modeling related to leakage risk assessment for CO2 and hydrogen storage. Together with their research partners, they are currently conducting laboratory tests that include CT scans of rock samples and core flooding tests.

“We are looking to develop these tests to simulate subsurface flow conditions using core flooding tools.” However, the purchase of laboratory equipment requires a large amount of funding, at least 0.5 million. euros”, says the KTU researcher.

Pal shares that with the help of their research partners, Texas A&M University and India’s IIT Roorkee, they obtained data on CO2 injections into the rocks, including high-resolution CT scans of the rocks, which are used to build a 3D model of the rocks. Also evaluation of CO2 storage in rocks and data before and after CO2 injection into rocks.
“Later, with the help of AI methods and tools, these data are used to create a mathematical model to assess the CO2 storage potential of Lithuanian rocks. We plan to do the same with hydrogen storage analysis,” he explains.

The KTU professor says that the research group is working on several topics in the field of energy efficiency (EVE). One of them is the increase of EVE of the existing infrastructure, especially related to hydrocarbon extraction companies in Lithuania.

“We need to address the EVE needs of these companies. Such companies have high electricity costs due to on-site injection systems. These systems could be made more efficient with certain tools and technologies that we are researching that can really help save energy.

In addition, hydrocarbon producers in Lithuania generate a lot of hot water, which currently wastes a lot of energy. This hot water is pumped back into the depths of the earth without extracting energy from it,” explains M. Pal.

He sees a huge potential to explore and propose innovative solutions to harness this geothermal energy. KTU scientists carry out geothermal energy research aimed at extracting geothermal energy from Devonian and Cambrian deposits located in the depths of the earth.

“We are also interested in hydrogen as a next-generation fuel and we are looking into the aspects of storing hydrogen in underground reservoirs, similar to how gas is stored throughout Europe,” says M. Pal.

The KTU professor notes that he is not the first to draw attention to the untapped potential of the Earth’s surface. As far as Europe is concerned, the Italians were the first to develop geothermal energy as an energy source, he said.

In Iceland, he continues, all district heating is powered by geothermal energy, and companies like Carbfix use geothermal energy technology to store CO2.
Finally, Denmark-based Innargi is developing similar models for district heating. According to Ms. Pal, this technology has been successfully applied in many other countries.

He says that the US and Norway have been storing CO2 in storage above the Earth’s surface for years. The Northern Lights project was developed in Norway and is a great example of this technology.

“Similar CO2 injection projects were carried out in Lithuania, but no one talks about it. 1990-2000 a lot of geothermal research was carried out, and until 2017 it was built. a geothermal power plant was operating, but due to several legal and financial problems, it was closed,” says the KTU professor.

The KTU professor says that the laboratory he leads is unique because it has the most modern modeling and simulation tools, which, as far as he knows, are available only in industry and are not available in any other Lithuanian institution.

According to Ms. Pal, they approached two companies, Rock Flow Dynamics and Schlumberger, based in Houston, USA, to help acquire the software needed to model the geoenergy phenomenon. Some software, he said, is too expensive and unavailable to purchase a licensed version at a university.

“After becoming familiar with our research directions and topics, companies agreed to support our research group. Rock Flow Dynamics donated 350 thousand USD worth of software, and Schlumberger agreed to allocate 2.8 million. euros. This motivated us to move forward because without these tools it would be very difficult to do simulation-based modeling. This software greatly helps in modeling and visualization of underground flow,” explains the KTU researcher.

He claims that sustainability and environmental friendliness are very important to their research group – the scientific work related to the use of geothermal energy in Lithuania is also focused on this.

“Lithuania has a geothermal anomaly, due to which the depths of its earth are unique, and their temperature in the western part of Lithuania is very high. If this energy is used properly, it will be able to solve the issues related to energy security in Lithuania at the lowest cost.

There is also potential to transform the hydrocarbon industry into geothermal power generation with the right stakeholders and investors, and we are trying to point the way with our research,” says Pal.

“Although the research topics we are studying are extremely relevant in the Nordic countries, in the past few years I have not seen any other research group at KTU or even other Lithuanian research institutions working on similar topics. I guess that’s what makes us unique, at least in Lithuania”, observes the KTU professor.