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On the importance of the thermosiphon effect in CPG (CO2 plume geothermal) power systems

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  • Adams, Benjamin M.
  • Kuehn, Thomas H.
  • Bielicki, Jeffrey M.
  • Randolph, Jimmy B.
  • Saar, Martin O.

Abstract

CPG (CO2 Plume Geothermal) energy systems use CO2 to extract thermal energy from naturally permeable geologic formations at depth. CO2 has advantages over brine: high mobility, low solubility of amorphous silica, and higher density sensitivity to temperature. The density of CO2 changes substantially between geothermal reservoir and surface plant, resulting in a buoyancy-driven convective current – a thermosiphon – that reduces or eliminates pumping requirements. We estimated and compared the strength of this thermosiphon for CO2 and for 20 weight percent NaCl brine for reservoir depths up to 5 km and geothermal gradients of 20, 35, and 50 °C/km. We found that through the reservoir, CO2 has a pressure drop approximately 3–12 times less than brine at the same mass flowrate, making the CO2 thermosiphon sufficient to produce power using reservoirs as shallow as 0.5 km. At 2.5 km depth with a 35 °C/km gradient – the approximate western U.S. continental mean – the CO2 thermosiphon converted approximately 10% of the energy extracted from the reservoir to fluid circulation, compared to less than 1% with brine, where additional mechanical pumping is necessary. We found CO2 is a particularly advantageous working fluid at depths between 0.5 km and 3 km.

Suggested Citation

  • Adams, Benjamin M. & Kuehn, Thomas H. & Bielicki, Jeffrey M. & Randolph, Jimmy B. & Saar, Martin O., 2014. "On the importance of the thermosiphon effect in CPG (CO2 plume geothermal) power systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 409-418.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:69:y:2014:i:c:p:409-418
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2014.03.032
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ganjehsarabi, Hadi & Gungor, Ali & Dincer, Ibrahim, 2012. "Exergetic performance analysis of Dora II geothermal power plant in Turkey," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 101-108.
    2. Singh, A.K. & Goerke, U.-J. & Kolditz, O., 2011. "Numerical simulation of non-isothermal compositional gas flow: Application to carbon dioxide injection into gas reservoirs," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 3446-3458.
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    Cited by:

    1. Singh, Mrityunjay & Mahmoodpour, Saeed & Ershadnia, Reza & Soltanian, Mohamad Reza & Sass, Ingo, 2023. "Comparative study on heat extraction from Soultz-sous-Forêts geothermal field using supercritical carbon dioxide and water as the working fluid," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    2. Carro, A. & Chacartegui, R. & Ortiz, C. & Carneiro, J. & Becerra, J.A., 2022. "Integration of energy storage systems based on transcritical CO2: Concept of CO2 based electrothermal energy and geological storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(PA).
    3. Adams, Benjamin M. & Kuehn, Thomas H. & Bielicki, Jeffrey M. & Randolph, Jimmy B. & Saar, Martin O., 2015. "A comparison of electric power output of CO2 Plume Geothermal (CPG) and brine geothermal systems for varying reservoir conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 365-377.
    4. Jiangyuan Yao & Wanju Yuan & Xiaolong Peng & Zhuoheng Chen & Yongan Gu, 2023. "A Novel Multi-Phase Strategy for Optimizing CO 2 Utilization and Storage in an Oil Reservoir," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-19, July.
    5. Justin Ezekiel & Diya Kumbhat & Anozie Ebigbo & Benjamin M. Adams & Martin O. Saar, 2021. "Sensitivity of Reservoir and Operational Parameters on the Energy Extraction Performance of Combined CO 2 -EGR–CPG Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-21, September.
    6. Daniilidis, Alexandros & Saeid, Sanaz & Doonechaly, Nima Gholizadeh, 2021. "The fault plane as the main fluid pathway: Geothermal field development options under subsurface and operational uncertainty," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 927-946.
    7. Adams, Benjamin M. & Vogler, Daniel & Kuehn, Thomas H. & Bielicki, Jeffrey M. & Garapati, Nagasree & Saar, Martin O., 2021. "Heat depletion in sedimentary basins and its effect on the design and electric power output of CO2 Plume Geothermal (CPG) systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 1393-1403.
    8. Ezekiel, Justin & Ebigbo, Anozie & Adams, Benjamin M. & Saar, Martin O., 2020. "Combining natural gas recovery and CO2-based geothermal energy extraction for electric power generation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    9. Esteves, Ana Filipa & Santos, Francisca Maria & Magalhães Pires, José Carlos, 2019. "Carbon dioxide as geothermal working fluid: An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 1-1.
    10. Malek, Adam E. & Adams, Benjamin M. & Rossi, Edoardo & Schiegg, Hans O. & Saar, Martin O., 2022. "Techno-economic analysis of Advanced Geothermal Systems (AGS)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 927-943.
    11. Cui, Guodong & Zhang, Liang & Ren, Bo & Enechukwu, Chioma & Liu, Yanmin & Ren, Shaoran, 2016. "Geothermal exploitation from depleted high temperature gas reservoirs via recycling supercritical CO2: Heat mining rate and salt precipitation effects," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 837-852.
    12. Cui, Guodong & Ren, Shaoran & Rui, Zhenhua & Ezekiel, Justin & Zhang, Liang & Wang, Hongsheng, 2018. "The influence of complicated fluid-rock interactions on the geothermal exploitation in the CO2 plume geothermal system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C), pages 49-63.
    13. Cui, Guodong & Pei, Shufeng & Rui, Zhenhua & Dou, Bin & Ning, Fulong & Wang, Jiaqiang, 2021. "Whole process analysis of geothermal exploitation and power generation from a depleted high-temperature gas reservoir by recycling CO2," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    14. Cui, Guodong & Ren, Shaoran & Zhang, Liang & Ezekiel, Justin & Enechukwu, Chioma & Wang, Yi & Zhang, Rui, 2017. "Geothermal exploitation from hot dry rocks via recycling heat transmission fluid in a horizontal well," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 366-377.
    15. Norouzi, Amir Mohammad & Pouranian, Fatemeh & Rabbani, Arash & Fowler, Neil & Gluyas, Jon & Niasar, Vahid & Ezekiel, Justin & Babaei, Masoud, 2023. "CO2-plume geothermal: Power net generation from 3D fluvial aquifers," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 332(C).
    16. Schifflechner, Christopher & Dawo, Fabian & Eyerer, Sebastian & Wieland, Christoph & Spliethoff, Hartmut, 2020. "Thermodynamic comparison of direct supercritical CO2 and indirect brine-ORC concepts for geothermal combined heat and power generation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 1292-1302.

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