Geothermal energy from abandoned oil and gas wells using water in combination with a closed wellbore

Wight, Neil M.; Bennett, Nick

doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2015.06.030

Cited by 104 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Therefore, the re-development of old petroleum boreholes for the purpose of acquiring geothermal energy is an extremely desirable solution and simultaneously the outstanding subject of significant number of researches around the globe. Scientists have considered various concepts for obtaining both thermal energy [7,9,10] and electricity production [4,11,12], depending on specific regional thermal conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Utilization of Abandoned Petroleum Wells in Geothermal Energy Sector. Worldwide Trends and Experience

2020

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Since the oil crises in the 1970s, geothermal resources have received much attention and researches aimed at its recognition have been conducted all around the globe. Nevertheless, the investment cost associated mainly with drilling works is a crucial limitation for the successful implementation of new geothermal projects. The radical solution affecting the cost effectiveness of any geothermal investments might be an adaptation of existing un-exploited boreholes of the oil and gas sector for geothermal purposes. Moreover, a few studies on heat and/or energy recovery from oil and gas provinces have indicated that a tremendous amount of geothermal energy co-exists with petroleum fields. Thereby, the article centres on global concepts related to the adaptation of boreholes after the exploitation of hydrocarbon deposits or negative exploratory wells in order to exploit geothermal energy resources. Selected concepts focused on possible electricity production and the space heating sector are discussed. Other potential technologies based on utilization of geothermal energy attained by borehole heat exchangers are also indicated.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Utilization of Abandoned Petroleum Wells in Geothermal Energy Sector. Worldwide Trends and Experience

2020

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“…Without the resource constraint and recharging problem, the technology of deep borehole heat exchanger (DBHE), as shown in Figure 1, is widely accepted in China, and it can be applied almost everywhere. Some researchers have focused on the utilization of geothermal energy acquired from DBHE for building heating [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Bu et al carried out experimental and simulation studies of DBHE for building heating, and the research results are shown in Figure 2 [17,18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance Analysis of Single-Well Enhanced Geothermal System for Building Heating

Liang

Guo

Gao

et al. 2020

The Scientific World Journal

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Deep borehole heat exchanger (DBHE) technology does not depend on the existence of hot water reservoir and can be used in various regions. However, the heat extraction from DBHE can hardly be improved due to poor thermal conductivity of rocks. Here, a single-well enhanced geothermal system (SWEGS) is proposed, which has a larger heat-exchange area of artificial reservoir created by fracturing hydrothermal technology. We find that, due to heat convection between rocks and fluid, the extracted thermal output for SWEGS is 4772.73 kW, which is 10.64 times of that of DBHE. By changing the injection water temperature, volume flow rate, and artificial reservoir volume, it is easy to adjust the extracted thermal output to meet the requirement of building thermal loads varying with outdoor air temperature. Understanding these will enable us to better apply SWEGS technology and solve the fog and haze problem easily and efficiently.

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“…Wight and Bennett [6] pointed out that the closed loop system (i.e., heat exchanger) retrofitted from abandoned oil well has the advantage of protecting both the equipment and the environment from performance or safety risks caused by minerals and contaminants commonly present in naturally occurring geothermal fluid. This is because the system can produce geothermal energy without extracting geothermal fluid from the formation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geothermal Power Production from Abandoned Oil Reservoirs Using In Situ Combustion Technology

Zhu

Liu

et al. 2019

Energies

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Development of geothermal resources on abandoned oil reservoirs is considered environmentally friendly. This method could reduce the rate of energy consumption from oil fields. In this study, the feasibility of geothermal energy recovery based on a deep borehole heat exchanger modified from abandoned oil reservoirs using in situ combustion technology is investigated. This system could produce a large amount of heat compensated by in situ combustion in oil reservoir without directly contacting the formation fluid and affecting the oil production. A coupling strategy between the heat exchange system and the oil reservoir was developed to help avoid the high computational cost while ensuring computational accuracy. Several computational scenarios were performed, and results were obtained and analyzed. The computational results showed that an optimal water injection velocity of 0.06 m/s provides a highest outlet temperature of (165.8 °C) and the greatest power output of (164.6 kW) for a single well in all the performed scenarios. Based on the findings of this study, a geothermal energy production system associated with in situ combustion is proposed, specifically for economic reasons, because it can rapidly shorten the payback period of the upfront costs. Modeling was also performed, and based on the modeling data, the proposed technology has a very short payback period of about 4.5 years and a final cumulative net cash flow of about $4.94 million. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates that utilizing geothermal resources or thermal energy in oilfields by adopting in situ combustion technology for enhanced oil recovery is of great significance and has great economic benefits.

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Geothermal energy from abandoned oil and gas wells using water in combination with a closed wellbore

Cited by 104 publications

References 14 publications

The Utilization of Abandoned Petroleum Wells in Geothermal Energy Sector. Worldwide Trends and Experience

The Utilization of Abandoned Petroleum Wells in Geothermal Energy Sector. Worldwide Trends and Experience

Performance Analysis of Single-Well Enhanced Geothermal System for Building Heating

Geothermal Power Production from Abandoned Oil Reservoirs Using In Situ Combustion Technology

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