Philippe De Donato
Philippe de DONATO is research director at the CNRS (Centre National des Sciences). It totals 110 publications, 109 conferences and 42 participations in research contracts. Specialist in physico-chemistry with an analysis of phenomena that start at the molecular level, he conducts research projects involving natural or anthropized surface envelopes with the aim of their eco-use in the issue of energy transition in connection with their sustainable protections. This multi-scale approach is based on i) targeted metrology for observation and quantification of fluid transfer integrating the three compartments: geosphere (-3000, 0m) biosphere (0, 10m) and troposphere (10, 5000m), the understanding of fluid-solid interaction mechanisms and their transport in the various affected compartments and the interpretation of these phenomena in terms of 2D/3D models of intra and inter-compartment exchange. He is a major player in the conduct of partnership research involving industrial and academic circles in the field of the sustainable and responsible use of the soil and subsoil for energy purposes, namely: the management of mining waste, exploration and the exploitation of gas resources (CO2, H2, CH4,…), the deep geological storage of ultimate waste, the storage in geological medium of CO2, energy (H2) and the monitoring and securing of emissive sites whether natural, urban, industrial, military or of an event nature. Since 2018, he has been a member of the ATMO Grand EST scientific committee, member of the INERIS scientific committee – Soil and subsoil risk, member of the expert committee of the AVENIA Competitiveness Cluster. He was been deputy director of the GeoRessources Research Laboratory of the CNRS and the University of Lorraine, bringing together 200 people (researchers and technicians) from 2013 to 2020.
The research consortium associated with the REGALOR project (REssources GAzières de LORraine - FEDER/French State and Grand Est Region, 2018-2023) after having demonstrated the existence of natural hydrogen resources in the Lorraine carboniferous basin, has for the first time, specified the location of these resources within different geological formations. On the basis of SysMoGTM type probe technology (European Bureau Patent N°EP22210240.2 April 2023), the concentrations of dissolved gases (CO2, H2, CH4 and N2) and their isotopic signatures could be determined both in the Carboniferous sediments trough a vertical well (FOLS1A - Folschviller-France), between -600m and -1250m and directly in the coal seams abg trough 3 deviated flooded wells, at -925m (Well A), at -930m (Well B) and at -946 m (Well C).
In the Carboniferous sediments (vertical well FOLS1A), the concentrations at -1250 m in H2, CH4, N2 and CO2 are respectively 18.2, 7.4, 6.5, <0.05 mole%. On the contrary, measurements directly in the coal seams showed a very different relative proportion of these three gases, namely between 0.05 and 0.5 mole % for H2, between 87.0 and 96.0 mole % for CH4 , between 2.9 and 11.8 for N2 and between 0 .03 and 0.6 mole% for CO2. A high CH4 content (96 mole%) associated with a very low hydrogen content (<0.05%) in the coal veins, confirm the different origins for CH4 and H2. Moreover, the d13C-CH4 and Deuterium d2H-CH4 isotope data are similar for the FOLS1A, wells B and C. They vary between -43.8 and 39.9 ‰ for d13C-CH4 and between -238 and -208 ‰ for d2H-CH4. This shows that the methane contained in the coal seams and in the Carboniferous sediments are identical, thus reflecting a diffusion of CH4 from the coal seams (place of genesis) to the surrounding geological environment (additional storage zone). On the other hand, the absence of hydrogen in the tested coal veins can be limited by the following three hypotheses:
- a relative impermeability of coal deposits to hydrogen,
- a process of bio-physicochemical degradation within the veins,
- a mechanism of adsorption of H2 on the coal. In this case the concentration measured in the vein would be the equilibrium concentration of this process.
Because of the small hydrogen concentrations in the tested coal seams, isotopic analysis of H2 (for d2H-H2) could not be carried out. Nitrogen isotopia is inconclusive. The value of d15N is constant in the different boreholes studied at +1.5‰. It is located in the average of the d15N values described for global coals with reference to the publication by Quan and Adeboye (2021).
This research demonstrates that in a carboniferous context, the search for dissolved H2 must also be carried out outside of the coal seams, by targeting the surrounding submerged sediments, using exploration tools of SysMoGTM type. These results confirm the hypothesis of a production of H2 in deep conditions (>5 km), possibly from water-rock interaction, and the extremely low permeability of coal seams.
Philippe de DONATO1, Jacques PIRONON1, Raymond MICHELS1, Odile BARRES1,
Marie-Camille CAUMON1, Aurélien RANDI1, Catherine LORGEOUX1, Yves
GERAUD1, , Mathieu LAZERGES1, Vitaliy PRIVALOV1,5, Antoine FORCINAL2,
Fady NASSIF2, Médéric PIEDEVACHE3, Thomas FIERZ4, Yanick LETTRY4,
1Université
de Lorraine, CNRS, GeoRessources lab, F-54500 Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy,
France 2LFDE, Avenue du district – ZI Faulquemont, F-57380 Pontpierre,
France
3Solexperts France, 10, allée de la forêt de la Reine, F-54500
Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France 4Solexperts AG, Mettlenbachstrasse 25,
CH-8617 Mönchaltorf, Switzerland
5National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, UA-03142 Kyiv, Ukraine
CNRS
Directeur de recherche
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