Environmental Internship Program - 2023 Booklet

Isabel Liu ’26
COMPUTER SCIENCE
CLIMATE AND
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
PROJECT TITLE
Carbon Dioxide and
Hydrogen Storage in
Water-saturated
Bentonite Clay Systems
ORGANIZATION(S)
Interfacial Water Group,
Department of Civil
and Environmental
Engineering, Princeton
University
LOCATION(S)
Princeton, New Jersey
MENTOR(S)
Ian Bourg,
Associate Professor of
Civil and Environmental
Engineering and the High
Meadows Environmental
Institute; Xiaojin Zheng,
Postdoctoral Research
Associate, Civil and
Environmental Engineering
Montmorillonite is a smectite clay mineral that is
useful for defining fluid migration pathways and
investigating gas storage due to its high swelling
pressure and low permeability. In this study, I
researched carbon dioxide and hydrogen storage
in the subsurface environment, specifically in
the interlayer space of montmorillonite that hosts
water molecules and hydrated cations. These
two gases are stored very differently, but both
are important for environmental and industrial
reasons; while carbon dioxide is intended to be
conserved as long and stably as possible at a
depth of more than 800 meters to alleviate global
warming, hydrogen is stored at a more superficial
level for seasonal injection and removed for
industrial purposes. To lay the groundwork
for permeability analyses, I used the programs
LAMMPS Molecular Dynamics Simulator,
Visual Molecular Dynamics and MATLAB to
simulate carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas
storage in montmorillonite clay at different water
saturations. I found it inspiring to be able to
use computer simulations to estimate realistic
dynamics between molecules and explore this
important industrial application at minimal
cost. Through this experience, I acquired many
technical skills, learned to develop my creativity
and gained important insights into geosystems
engineering.
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