IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v34y2009i7p866-872.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Geothermal power production from abandoned oil wells

Author

Listed:
  • Davis, Adelina P.
  • Michaelides, Efstathios E.

Abstract

A simulation for the determination of geothermal power production from abandoned oil wells by injecting and retrieving a secondary fluid was performed. The analysis takes into consideration local geothermal gradients and typical well depths and pipe diameters. Isobutane is chosen as the secondary fluid, which is injected in the well at moderate pressures and allowed to heat up and produce vapor. The computational model that was developed takes into account mass, energy, and momentum conservation equations for the well flow, and the simulation helps determine the state of the fluid from injection to retrieval. It is observed that the operation of such systems attains a maximum power that depends on the temperature of the well bottom and the injection pressure. In general, 2–3MW of electric power may be produced from wells that are typical in the South Texas region.

Suggested Citation

  • Davis, Adelina P. & Michaelides, Efstathios E., 2009. "Geothermal power production from abandoned oil wells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 866-872.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:34:y:2009:i:7:p:866-872
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2009.03.017
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544209000607
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2009.03.017?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kujawa, Tomasz & Nowak, Władysław & Stachel, Aleksander A., 2006. "Utilization of existing deep geological wells for acquisitions of geothermal energy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 650-664.
    2. Fan, Rui & Jiang, Yiqiang & Yao, Yang & Ma, Zuiliang, 2008. "Theoretical study on the performance of an integrated ground-source heat pump system in a whole year," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 33(11), pages 1671-1679.
    3. Borsukiewicz-Gozdur, Aleksandra & Nowak, Władysław, 2007. "Comparative analysis of natural and synthetic refrigerants in application to low temperature Clausius–Rankine cycle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 344-352.
    4. Madhawa Hettiarachchi, H.D. & Golubovic, Mihajlo & Worek, William M. & Ikegami, Yasuyuki, 2007. "Optimum design criteria for an Organic Rankine cycle using low-temperature geothermal heat sources," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1698-1706.
    5. Saleh, Bahaa & Koglbauer, Gerald & Wendland, Martin & Fischer, Johann, 2007. "Working fluids for low-temperature organic Rankine cycles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 1210-1221.
    6. Michaelides, Efstathios E. & Scott, Gregory J., 1984. "A binary-flashing geothermal power plant," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 323-331.
    7. Schneider, Daniel R. & Duić, Neven & Bogdan, Željko, 2007. "Mapping the potential for decentralized energy generation based on renewable energy sources in the Republic of Croatia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1731-1744.
    8. Cerci, Y., 2003. "Performance evaluation of a single-flash geothermal power plant in Denizli, Turkey," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 27-35.
    9. Fan, Rui & Jiang, Yiqiang & Yao, Yang & Shiming, Deng & Ma, Zuiliang, 2007. "A study on the performance of a geothermal heat exchanger under coupled heat conduction and groundwater advection," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(11), pages 2199-2209.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nian, Yong-Le & Cheng, Wen-Long, 2018. "Insights into geothermal utilization of abandoned oil and gas wells," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 44-60.
    2. 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.
    3. Guo, T. & Wang, H.X. & Zhang, S.J., 2011. "Fluids and parameters optimization for a novel cogeneration system driven by low-temperature geothermal sources," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 2639-2649.
    4. Quoilin, Sylvain & Broek, Martijn Van Den & Declaye, Sébastien & Dewallef, Pierre & Lemort, Vincent, 2013. "Techno-economic survey of Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 168-186.
    5. Chen, Huijuan & Goswami, D. Yogi & Stefanakos, Elias K., 2010. "A review of thermodynamic cycles and working fluids for the conversion of low-grade heat," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(9), pages 3059-3067, December.
    6. Bao, Junjiang & Zhao, Li, 2012. "Exergy analysis and parameter study on a novel auto-cascade Rankine cycle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 539-547.
    7. Unverdi, Murat & Cerci, Yunus, 2013. "Performance analysis of Germencik Geothermal Power Plant," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 192-200.
    8. Nian, Yong-Le & Cheng, Wen-Long, 2018. "Evaluation of geothermal heating from abandoned oil wells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 592-607.
    9. Tempesti, Duccio & Manfrida, Giampaolo & Fiaschi, Daniele, 2012. "Thermodynamic analysis of two micro CHP systems operating with geothermal and solar energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 609-617.
    10. Luo, Dong & Mahmoud, Ahmad & Cogswell, Frederick, 2015. "Evaluation of Low-GWP fluids for power generation with Organic Rankine Cycle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 481-488.
    11. Aljundi, Isam H., 2011. "Effect of dry hydrocarbons and critical point temperature on the efficiencies of organic Rankine cycle," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 1196-1202.
    12. Bao, Junjiang & Zhao, Li, 2013. "A review of working fluid and expander selections for organic Rankine cycle," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 325-342.
    13. Habka, Muhsen & Ajib, Salman, 2014. "Investigation of novel, hybrid, geothermal-energized cogeneration plants based on organic Rankine cycle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 212-222.
    14. Tchanche, Bertrand F. & Lambrinos, Gr. & Frangoudakis, A. & Papadakis, G., 2011. "Low-grade heat conversion into power using organic Rankine cycles – A review of various applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(8), pages 3963-3979.
    15. Astolfi, Marco & Romano, Matteo C. & Bombarda, Paola & Macchi, Ennio, 2014. "Binary ORC (organic Rankine cycles) power plants for the exploitation of medium–low temperature geothermal sources – Part A: Thermodynamic optimization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 423-434.
    16. Wang, Jiangfeng & Dai, Yiping & Gao, Lin, 2009. "Exergy analyses and parametric optimizations for different cogeneration power plants in cement industry," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(6), pages 941-948, June.
    17. Wang, Z.Q. & Zhou, N.J. & Guo, J. & Wang, X.Y., 2012. "Fluid selection and parametric optimization of organic Rankine cycle using low temperature waste heat," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 107-115.
    18. Cheng, Wen-Long & Li, Tong-Tong & Nian, Yong-Le & Wang, Chang-Long, 2013. "Studies on geothermal power generation using abandoned oil wells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 248-254.
    19. Dominika Matuszewska & Piotr Olczak, 2020. "Evaluation of Using Gas Turbine to Increase Efficiency of the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC)," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-21, March.
    20. Florian Heberle & Dieter Brüggemann, 2015. "Thermo-Economic Evaluation of Organic Rankine Cycles for Geothermal Power Generation Using Zeotropic Mixtures," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-28, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:34:y:2009:i:7:p:866-872. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.