IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i2p768-d1320066.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Feasibility Assessment of Heat Energy Productivity of Geothermal Wells Converted from Oil/Gas Wells

Author

Listed:
  • Peng Zhang

    (Energy Institute of Louisiana, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA 70504, USA)

  • Boyun Guo

    (Energy Institute of Louisiana, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA 70504, USA)

Abstract

The mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions necessitates a shift from fossil fuel to environmentally friendly energy, such as geothermal energy. It is advantageous to retrofit end-of-life oil/gas wells for geothermal energy extraction. Prior to repurposing depleted wells into geothermal wells, it is imperative to conduct the heat-energy potential assessment. In this work, an analytical model was developed for this purpose. A case study was conducted using the model and the data from a well in North-west Louisiana for a feasibility assessment. A sensitivity study was performed with the model to identify major factors affecting well productivity. The result of the case study shows that reverse circulation is 35% more efficient than direct circulation for improving the heat-energy productivity of geothermal wells converted from oil/gas wells. The sensitivity analysis revealed that well productivity increases with higher injection rates and greater horizontal wellbore lengths. Additionally, well productivity rises in correspondence with reservoir temperature as well as the temperature of the injected water. However, well productivity decreases as the thermal conductivity of the tubing insulation increases. Counteracting this trend, well productivity increases with thicker tubing insulation layers. This study furnishes engineers with an easy-to-use tool for predicting the heat-energy deliverability of wells converted from end-of-life oil/gas wells.

Suggested Citation

  • Peng Zhang & Boyun Guo, 2024. "A Feasibility Assessment of Heat Energy Productivity of Geothermal Wells Converted from Oil/Gas Wells," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-16, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:2:p:768-:d:1320066
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/2/768/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/2/768/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Benjamin Dachis & Blake Schaffer & Vincent Thivierge, 2017. "All’s Well that Ends Well: Addressing End-of-Life Liabilities for Oil and Gas Wells," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 492, September.
    2. Jello, Josiane & Baser, Tugce, 2023. "Utilization of existing hydrocarbon wells for geothermal system development: A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 348(C).
    3. 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.
    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. Li, Shoutu & Chen, Qin & Li, Ye & Pröbsting, Stefan & Yang, Congxin & Zheng, Xiaobo & Yang, Yannian & Zhu, Weijun & Shen, Wenzhong & Wu, Faming & Li, Deshun & Wang, Tongguang & Ke, Shitang, 2022. "Experimental investigation on noise characteristics of small scale vertical axis wind turbines in urban environments," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 970-982.
    2. Huayao Li & Fawang Zhang & Xinqiang Du & Dezhi Tian & Shan Jiao & Jiliang Zhu & Fenggang Dai, 2023. "Identification of the Pollution Mechanisms and Remediation Strategies for Abandoned Wells in the Karst Areas of Northern China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-18, November.
    3. Drew Yewchuk & Shaun Fluker & Martin Olszynski, 2023. "A Made-in-Alberta Failure: Unfunded Oil and Gas Closure Liability," SPP Research Papers, The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary, vol. 16(31), October.
    4. Daniel Schiffner & Maik Kecinski & Sandeep Mohapatra, 2021. "An updated look at petroleum well leaks, ineffective policies and the social cost of methane in Canada’s largest oil-producing province," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 164(3), pages 1-18, February.
    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. Arciuolo, Thomas F. & Faezipour, Miad, 2022. "Yellowstone Caldera Volcanic Power Generation Facility: A new engineering approach for harvesting emission-free green volcanic energy on a national scale," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 415-425.
    7. Schiffner, Daniel & Banks, Jonathan & Rabbani, Arif & Lefsrud, Lianne & Adamowicz, Wiktor, 2022. "Techno-economic assessment for heating cattle feed water with low-temperature geothermal energy: A case study from central Alberta, Canada," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 1105-1120.
    8. Victoria Goodday & Braeden Larson, 2021. "The Surface Owner’S Burden: Landowner Rights And Alberta’S Oil And Gas Well Liabilities Crisis," SPP Research Papers, The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary, vol. 14(16), May.
    9. Fauzan Hanif Jufri & Jaesung Jung & Budi Sudiarto & Iwa Garniwa, 2023. "Development of Virtual Inertia Control with State-of-Charge Recovery Strategy Using Coordinated Secondary Frequency Control for Optimized Battery Capacity in Isolated Low Inertia Grid," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-22, July.
    10. Zhang, Qitao & Dahi Taleghani, Arash, 2023. "Autonomous fracture flow tunning to enhance efficiency of fractured geothermal systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    11. Benjamin Dachis, 2018. "Death by a Thousand Cuts? Western Canada’s Oil and Natural Gas Policy Competitiveness Scorecard," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 501, February.
    12. Shimai Su & Anna Tur, 2022. "Estimation of Initial Stock in Pollution Control Problem," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(19), pages 1-11, September.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:2:p:768-:d:1320066. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.