On May 4th, the Center for Science and Industry (2024) hosted their annual COSI Science Festival in Columbus, Ohio. Each year, Battelle as a major sponsor, sets up a large tent and informs attendees about its variety of scientific research through featured experts and demonstrating experiments. For the third year in a row, Battelle’s Energy and Resilience Group participated, sharing information about ongoing subsurface geology and carbon management projects as well as taught people of all ages the science behind the practices.
At the MRCI section of the tent, attendees learned about porosity and permeability through applying water to different types of rock (sandstones, limestones, and shales) to see how it responds on the surface. They also tried out a bike pump display to see if they are “stronger than a cap rock” and can push air through a cap rock core. Battelle also created two backdrop displays focusing on the geology of the Appalachian Basin and how the geology is ideal for CCS. You can check out the posters by visiting these links (Geology of the Appalachian Basin and Carbon Storage in the Appalachian Basin).
Battelle also highlighted the work of the ARCH2 Hydrogen Hub currently under negotiations with the U.S. Department of Energy, discussing the basics of hydrogen energy and the role of CCS in the future of the hub with event attendees.
Special thanks to the Ohio Geological Survey for providing rock samples for this effort, and to the Columbus Metro Parks and Ohio Department of Natural Resources for supplying photographs for the posters!
Battelle Program Manager Marlon McKoy leads attendees through a porosity and permeability experiment using rocks from the Appalachian Basin.
Battelle Outreach Coordinator Ivan Wehner leads attendees through the bike pump experiment which demonstrates how air moves (or doesn’t move) through rocks based on different porosities and permeabilities.
The MRCI Display.
The ARCH2 Display.