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Feasibility study of geothermal heat extraction from abandoned oil wells using a U-tube heat exchanger

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  • Gharibi, Shabnam
  • Mortezazadeh, Emad
  • Hashemi Aghcheh Bodi, Seyed Jalaledin
  • Vatani, Ali

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the feasibility of using an abandoned oil well as a geothermal resource. A three-dimensional numerical model of a U-tube heat exchanger is simulated based upon the real field data of an abandoned oil well located in southern Iran. To assess and optimize the performance of the heat exchanger, the influences of mass flow rate, fluid inlet temperature, insulation length, and pipe diameter are analyzed. The simulation results indicate that the retrofitted well can be utilized for both electricity generation and direct applications. The great advantage of the proposed heat exchanger is that it can work steadily as a long-term geothermal production system. In a case with 288.16 K inlet temperature and 0.03 m/s inlet velocity, the outlet temperature reaches 324.73 K at the first year of operation and it declines to 324.13 K after 5 years.

Suggested Citation

  • Gharibi, Shabnam & Mortezazadeh, Emad & Hashemi Aghcheh Bodi, Seyed Jalaledin & Vatani, Ali, 2018. "Feasibility study of geothermal heat extraction from abandoned oil wells using a U-tube heat exchanger," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 554-567.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:153:y:2018:i:c:p:554-567
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2018.04.003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Sun, Fengrui & Yao, Yuedong & Li, Guozhen & Li, Xiangfang, 2018. "Geothermal energy extraction in CO2 rich basin using abandoned horizontal wells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 760-773.
    4. Jello, Josiane & Baser, Tugce, 2023. "Utilization of existing hydrocarbon wells for geothermal system development: A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 348(C).
    5. Martina Tuschl & Tomislav Kurevija, 2023. "Revitalization Modelling of a Mature Oil Field with Bottom-Type Aquifer into Geothermal Resource—Reservoir Engineering and Techno-Economic Challenges," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-27, September.
    6. Hu, Xincheng & Banks, Jonathan & Guo, Yunting & Huang, Guangping & Liu, Wei Victor, 2021. "Effects of temperature-dependent property variations on the output capacity prediction of a deep coaxial borehole heat exchanger," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(P1), pages 334-349.
    7. Hu, Xincheng & Banks, Jonathan & Wu, Linping & Liu, Wei Victor, 2020. "Numerical modeling of a coaxial borehole heat exchanger to exploit geothermal energy from abandoned petroleum wells in Hinton, Alberta," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 1110-1123.
    8. Ma, Yuanyuan & Li, Shibin & Zhang, Ligang & Liu, Songze & Wang, Ming, 2023. "Heat extraction performance evaluation of U-shaped well geothermal production system under different well-layout parameters and engineering schemes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 473-484.
    9. Fan, Huifang & Zhang, Luyi & Wang, Ruifei & Song, Hongqing & Xie, Hui & Du, Li & Sun, Pengguang, 2020. "Investigation on geothermal water reservoir development and utilization with variable temperature regulation: A case study of China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    10. Al Saedi, A.Q. & Sharma, P. & Kabir, C.S., 2021. "A novel cyclical wellbore-fluid circulation strategy for extracting geothermal energy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
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    13. Bu, Xianbiao & Ran, Yunmin & Zhang, Dongdong, 2019. "Experimental and simulation studies of geothermal single well for building heating," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 1902-1909.
    14. Theo Renaud & Lehua Pan & Hannah Doran & Gioia Falcone & Patrick G. Verdin, 2021. "Numerical Analysis of Enhanced Conductive Deep Borehole Heat Exchangers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-21, June.
    15. He, Yuting & Jia, Min & Li, Xiaogang & Yang, Zhaozhong & Song, Rui, 2021. "Performance analysis of coaxial heat exchanger and heat-carrier fluid in medium-deep geothermal energy development," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 938-959.
    16. Zheng, Jianqiao & Zhang, Yanjun & Huang, Yibin & Liu, Qiangbin & Cheng, Yuxiang & Guo, Jixiang, 2024. "Numerical investigation on heat transfer performance of the segmented cementing coaxial heat exchanger," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    17. Hu, Xincheng & Banks, Jonathan & Guo, Yunting & Liu, Wei Victor, 2021. "Retrofitting abandoned petroleum wells as doublet deep borehole heat exchangers for geothermal energy production—a numerical investigation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 115-134.
    18. Yildirim, Nurdan & Parmanto, Slamet & Akkurt, Gulden Gokcen, 2019. "Thermodynamic assessment of downhole heat exchangers for geothermal power generation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 1080-1091.
    19. Santos, L. & Dahi Taleghani, A. & Elsworth, D., 2022. "Repurposing abandoned wells for geothermal energy: Current status and future prospects," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 1288-1302.
    20. Sharma, P. & Al Saedi, A.Q. & Kabir, C.S., 2020. "Geothermal energy extraction with wellbore heat exchanger: Analytical model and parameter evaluation to optimize heat recovery," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 1-8.

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