Excess adsorption of hydrogen and methane on lignite coal: Implications for geo-storage in Greece
Longinos S.N.
December 2025Elsevier B.V.
Progress in Engineering Science
2025#2Issue 4
Large-scale underground hydrogen storage is critical for energy transition and reducing global warming. However, the chemical and physical processes causing H₂ loss in geo-storage are poorly understood. In this work, we calculated the adsorption capacity of lignite coal in hydrogen and methane at four different pressures and temperatures. The excess adsorption capacity is augmented with increasing pressure but reduced with rising temperature in hydrogen and methane experiments. The highest hydrogen adsorption recorded was an average of 0.28 mol/kg for the lignite coal at 30 °C and 100 bars, and the highest methane adsorption recorded was an average of 0.83 mol/kg. Our experiments were reproducible and repeatable, with a maximum standard error of 3.69 % in hydrogen experiments and 1.99 % in methane experiments. This study marks the first time weve directly compared how hydrogen and methane are adsorbed in lignite coal under the same thermodynamic conditions. It sheds new light on how these gases compete for storage in low-rank coals. Incorporating the geological environment improved the engineering outcomes, which is essential when applying these findings to coals with comparable origins.
Adsorption , Coal , Hydrogen , Methane , Storage
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School of Mining and Geosciences, Department of Petroleum Engineering, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan
School of Mining and Geosciences
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