According to scientists at Avalio, an Australian natural hydrogen servicing company, the global natural hydrogen community focuses on crustal processes like serpentinisation and shear-induced quartz crushing for hydrogen generation. However, Avalio argues that these methods are flawed due to limited operational conditions and slow production rates. Instead, its scientists propose that "deep-seated" hydrogen, originating from the Earth's core and rising through geological time, is a more viable source.
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The “mainstream” hydrogen community in the West leans towards multiple physical and chemical processes that lead to the formation of hydrogen in the crust, such as serpentinization, ferrolysis, nuclear decay or crushing of SiO2 through shear in the presence of water. However, a team of scientists that previously established hydrogen’s role in the Earth’s formation postulates that these mechanisms suffer from substantial flaws. Vitaly Vidavskiy, Nikolay Larin and Vladimir Vidavskiy from Avalio point out that it is unrealistic to expect commercial volumes of hydrogen generated through crustal mechanisms due to several shortcomings.
Narrow operational pressure and temperature windows, the lack of water in crustal environments and the extremely slow rate of hydrogen generation all put question marks to the idea of stable generation of sufficient volumes of hydrogen in the crust. Serpentinization chemistry is still debated as well, and whether or not hydrogen is released during that process. Finally, hydrogen generation through shear in faults requires pure quartz, which is rarely seen in nature.
Deep – seated hydrogen
Instead, the team believes that “deep-seated” hydrogen accumulated in the process of Earth’s accretion, which keeps ascending in stream-like flows from the core through geologic time. Fundamental experimental research suggests the presence of hydrogen in the earth’s core, and because hydrogen atoms share their electrons with metal atoms they can travel fast.
Implementing the results of scientific research, the first trials of soil gas detection in the field were started by Nikolay Larin and his father in 2006. Since then, this data acquisition method has become the natural hydrogen exploration industry standard around the world.
When using the theory postulated by the Avalio team, the presence of natural hydrogen is extremely universal and not limited to certain geological basins such as oil and gas. This may dramatically change the global geopolitical balance. However, it is still early days when it comes to answering the question where hydrogen can be produced economically, according to the researchers from Avalio. In Mali, hydrogen has been produced for over a decade at the same flow rates, apparently being recharged from a deeper source, whilst other finds such as in Kansas have recorded significant flow rates only for short periods. The latter suggests either insufficient or zero replenishment from the deep.
In order to more successfully explore hydrogen, the researchers argue that a dynamic component needs to be at the heart of any strategy, as proven by the Mali case that clearly demonstrates this through the immanent flow from a tiny reservoir for over a decade.
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