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Geothermal energy is an important potential and a strategic area for developing activities regarding renewable energy and future studies. It involves a great potential and a main role in the worldwide energy sector, particularly electricity generation. Nevertheless, the role of geothermal electricity in today’s world is not dominant in comparison t...
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... heating has been progressed vastly, where geothermal direct use had a share of 66% of primary energy usage in 2011 (Dickson, Fanellib); which has been increased to 96% of heating and cooling energy consumption in (Breembroek et al., 2013. It is interesting to know that district heating using geothermal energy is saving about 7% of Iceland's GDP. Fig. 3 shows a basic flow diagram of the geothermal district heating system of Reykjavik (Gudmundsson, ...
Citations
... The application of directional wells significantly affects reservoir parameters and therefore should not be treated simply as point or straight wells in the model (Blöcher et al. 2010). In addition, the costs of geothermal projects are mainly focused on drilling (Allahvirdizadeh 2020;Kipsang 2015), which cannot be neglected in the economic indicators. In comparison, the levelized cost of heat (LCOH) employed in technoeconomic simulations provides a comprehensive indicator for cost calculation. ...
The design of well spacing significantly influences the sustainability and economic benefit of geothermal energy extraction. However, most studies have predominantly employed heat production-related parameters as indicators of well spacing, and a comprehensive analysis of well spacing design based on an economic model is necessary for practical implementation. In this study, an economic indicator considering the benefits derived from heat production and operating costs is proposed and applied in the Caofeidian, a typical abandoned oilfield in the Bohai Bay Basin. It offers a refined portrayal of directional wells, moving beyond rudimentary representations, to capture their appropriate degree of complexity and behavior in drilling configurations. First, by integrating thermophysical information and site investigation data from previous oil investigations, a heterogeneous 3D model is constructed to forecast the 30-year temperature and pressure evolution. Then, a modified levelized cost of heat (LCOH-HT) is proposed to perform economic analysis in optimizing the well spacing, revealing an optimal range of 300–600 m for the different selected wells. In comparison with results derived solely from heat production considerations, drilling and pumping costs contribute to a 300 m reduction in the optimal well spacing based on the proposed approach, as a larger well spacing leads to increased hydraulic losses and drilling cost, necessitating greater pumping efforts and costs. This finding underscores the need to balance economic and thermal considerations. In addition, we found the difference in the optimal well spacing in space is also caused by the porosity variations. Porosity affects fluid temperature and pressure, leading to changes in the benefits and costs associated with pressure fluctuations. Notably, this novel economic analysis method is not limited to spacing optimization; it can also be used to optimize operating parameters, such as the flow rate, which could provide practical strategies for geothermal energy extraction.
... However, they have not received sufficient attention compared to traditional energy sources that are cheap and easily accessible. On the other hand, the efficiency of HPs has increased in the last decade [5,6], along with better largescale HPs integration [7][8][9] and advancements in drilling and exploitation technologies for geothermal energy usage [4,10,11]. ...
The current energy security crisis is primarily a heating crisis. Space and water heating accounts for almost one-third of the EU’s final energy consumption, and unfortunately, around 62% of this demand is still met by fossil fuels. In this context, heat pumps, geothermal energy, and other renewable energy sources emerge as crucial technologies offering effective solutions to enhance energy efficiency and decrease dependence on fossil fuels as well as to achieve the EU energy and climate goals. This article focuses on the analysis of the potential and opportunities of using heat pumps and geothermal energy in conventional heating systems and district heating networks. This topic requires an in-depth analysis of the current state, challenges, benefits, and prospects of these technologies in the EU market. By examining the possibilities for wider adoption and discussing the associated factors, the article aims to provide valuable insights into and recommendations for the advancement of heat pumps and geothermal energy in the EU, along with the presentation of some case studies in this field.
... Probably because of confidentiality constraints, costs for fewer than 5 % of geothermal wells have been disclosed. The duration and expenses of drilling are notably contingent on the specific subsurface characteristics, which exhibit geographical variations [31,32]. Therefore, an accurate estimate of drilling cost is difficult, and the value given by Eq. (30) should be considered as a first approximation, which has good agreement with the practical engineering experience [20][21][22]. ...
... By generating virtual models of geothermal reservoirs and well systems, AI can recommend optimized drilling strategies, reservoir management techniques, and injection practices to enhance efficiency, increase energy extraction, and mitigate risks. M oreover, Generative AI can explore unconventional approaches, such as utilizing machine learning-generated seismic imaging for enhanced reservoir characterization, leading to more precise drilling and resource utilization (Allahvirdizadeh, 2020). Ultimately, these innovative applications of Generative AI can drive cost savings, maximize energy production, and foster sus tainable geothermal energy development. ...
Generative AI, a specialized branch of artificial intelligence, focuses on creating fresh and significant content like text, images, or audio from unstructured data. Its popularity has surged across diverse sectors recently due to its expanding range of applications. Notable examples encompass resilient conversational agents enhancing customer satisfaction in business domains, code synthesis aiding software developers, and the generation of audio and video content for the advertising and entertainment sectors. These fast-improving applications show huge prospects for the application of generative AI in various fields. Hence, this study presents achievable and innovative applications of generative artificial intelligence in the geothermal energy. To showcase the prospects and feasibility of this technology, three case studies were considered in this work, namely; geothermal drilling operation, seismic imaging and interpretation, and well management. By clearly leveraging instances of technology in various fields, the case studies were properly discussed. Consequently, this research seeks to inspire and provide valuable insights into the potential domains where this technology can be applied. With efficient and ethical implementation, it holds the promise of streamlining processes, reducing costs, enhancing safety, and allowing researchers and the industry to capitalize on the value it offers.
... Il est non corrosif. 2 https://www.techniques-ingenieur.fr/base-documentaire/procedes-chimie-bio-agro-th2/energie-durable-et-biocarburants-42494210/nouveaux-materiaux-pour-le-stockage-de-l-hydrogene-in403/contexte-in403niv10001.html#niv-nv191311944016 3 La diffusion chimique est un phénomène de transport irréversible qui tend à homogénéiser la composition du milieu. 4 Une dispersion, en chimie, est un mélange hétérogène dans lequel une ou plusieurs phases sont finement mêlées à une autre sans y être dissoutes. ...
Une centaine de cavités salines stockent actuellement du gaz naturel dans le monde (la moitié d’entre elles étant localisées en Europe). Ces cavités pourraient être reconverties pour stocker de l’hydrogène pur ou sous la forme d’un mélange hydrogène/ méthane.
Toutefois, plusieurs difficultés se posent du fait que les composants du puits ne sont pas toujours adaptés aux spécificités de l'hydrogène, que celui-ci peut interagir biochimiquement avec l'environnement du stockage et que les conditions d’injection et de soutirage ne sont pas les mêmes.
Un état de l’art a été réalisé et a permis d’une part, d’évaluer les impacts sécuritaires (risques de fuite par exemple) et économiques (perte d’hydrogène ; réduction de la pureté du gaz stocké, réduction du volume de stockage par fluage) et d’autre part, de recenser les méthodes et travaux complémentaires pouvant être mis en place pour rendre l’exploitation du stockage sûr et économiquement intéressante.
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Around a hundred salt caverns currently store natural gas around the world (half of them located in Europe). These cavities could be reconverted to store pure hydrogen or in the form of a hydrogen/methane mixture.
However, several problems may arise since the well components may not be adapted to the specificities of hydrogen, hydrogen may interact biochemically with the storage environment, the storage conditionsare different from those of natural gas storage (frequency of injection and withdrawal cycles in particular).
A state of the art was carried out and made it possible, on the one hand, to assess the safety (leak risks) and economic impacts (loss of hydrogen; reduction in the purity of the stored gas, reduction in the storage volume by creep) and on the other hand, to identify the methods that can be implemented to make the operation of storage safe and economically interesting. The necessary additional work has also been identified.
... Since high geothermal gradients and permeable geological formations that allow substantial flow rates are the core of conventional geothermal energy production, identifying underwater volcano locations and hydrothermal systems enables the determination of the areas with the most offshore geothermal potential [19]. Enhanced geothermal systems (EGSs) technology can be further optimized for potential in offshore energy systems, mainly toward retrofitting abandoned oil and gas wells [20]. Figure 7 illustrates several proposed conceptual options for offshore geothermal energy productions, including the following [21]: and (3) the potential use of pre-existing offshore structures from oil and gas industries [18]. ...
... Since high geothermal gradients and permeable geological formations that allow substantial flow rates are the core of conventional geothermal energy production, identifying underwater volcano locations and hydrothermal systems enables the determination of the areas with the most offshore geothermal potential [19]. Enhanced geothermal systems (EGSs) technology can be further optimized for potential in offshore energy systems, mainly toward retrofitting abandoned oil and gas wells [20]. Figure 7 illustrates several proposed conceptual options for offshore geothermal energy productions, including the following [21]: ...
This paper proposes a novel hybrid marine renewable energy-harvesting system to increase energy production, reduce levelized costs of energy and promote renewable marine energy. Firstly, various marine renewable energy resources and state-of-art technologies for energy exploitation and storage were reviewed. The site selection criteria for each energy-harvesting approach were identified, and a scoring matrix for site selection was proposed to screen suitable locations for the hybrid system. The Triton Knoll wind farm was used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the scoring matrix. An integrated energy system was designed, and FE modeling was performed to assess the effects of additional energy devices on the structural stability of the main wind turbine structure. It has been proven that the additional energy structures have a negligible influence on foundation/structure deflection (<1%) and increased system natural frequency by 6%; thus, they have a minimum influence on the original wind system but increased energy yield.
... In the case of drilling fluids, engineers depend on the use of soft sensors to predict rheological parameters in situations where direct measurements are challenging (Gautam et al., 2021). The current oil and gas drilling technologies are widely adopted in geothermal drilling operations even though the characteristics of the geothermal wells may led to significant increase in cost and time required (Allahvirdizadeh, 2020;Carson, 1982). Geothermal drilling is similar to oil and gas drilling in concept, but what distinguishes it from oil and gas drilling is the manner the well is designed. ...
Maintaining the rheology and filtration properties of a drilling fluid plays a vital role during a drilling operation. With the current challenges of high pressure and high temperature environments, there is an urgent need to design thermally stable water-based mud systems (WBM) which are environmentally clean and economically cheap.
High pressure and high temperature (HPHT) environments affect drilling fluid systems leading to degradation of additives hence reducing the efficiency of the drilling fluid. Nanotechnology has been widely used to answer questions about additive degradation, and many studies are currently being conducted on how to use nanotechnology to design smart drilling fluids. However, nanotechnology comes at a high cost, resulting in an increase in the overall drilling operation costs and the project as a all. Therefore, the effectiveness of sand particles as a replacement of commercial nanoparticles is investigated in this study as an additive for designing effective-performance water-based drilling fluids. Effective-performance drilling fluids are environmentally friendly, stable at high temperatures, and help to avoid well damage during drilling operations.
The research compared sand particles, which are widely available and inexpensive to silica nanoparticles at 0.5 wt% concentration. The samples were tested at different aging temperatures. Rheological properties were measured at room temperature up to 232 °C. The performance of sand and silica nanoparticles was studied by comparing each of the nanoparticle muds with the reference mud sample, taking filtration and rheological properties as the benchmark parameters. Experimental data showed that sand particles enhanced almost all the rheological and filtration properties of the WBM compared to the reference mud. When compared to silica nanoparticles, the results showed neither statistically significant variance in plastic viscosity and yield point among the samples, with muds containing sand particles performing similarly or better. Formulation S2 (35–70 μm) demonstrated the ability to improve the rheology of WBM. At 204 °C and 232 °C, Formulation S2 (35–70 μm) filtrate loss decreased by 16.35% and 29.52%, respectively, compared to 5.66% and 11.32% by mud containing Nano silica. The same mud sample decreased the mud cake thickness at the same temperatures conditions by 54.74% and 45.45%, respectively, as opposed to 36.84% and 11.81%. The new innovative mud system can be used to drill in HPHT conditions.
... The presence of corrosive gases and minerals in geothermal fluids can further accelerate equipment degradation (Mohamed et al., 2021). Additionally, the economic viability of geothermal projects is often a challenge due to the high upfront costs of drilling and the financial risks associated with the unpredictable nature of geothermal resources (Allahvirdizadeh, 2020). These challenges underscore the need for continued innovation and research in geothermal energy extraction methods and technologies as stated by Kang et al. (2023). ...
The extraction of geothermal energy revolves around the injection and subsequent production of steam that passes through a geothermal plant. The generation of geothermal power is contingent upon three vital elements: a heat source, a consistent and adequate flow rate, and efficient binary technology. The economic viability of the energy produced largely hinges on the successful drilling and completion of geothermal wells to ensure a steady flow of fluid. The drilling of geothermal formations is often fraught with complications due to factors such as high temperatures, hard and abrasive geological features, complex formation patterns, fractured rocks, and corrosive formation fluids. The multilateral well design was introduced in the oil and gas industry to maximize reservoir contact while simultaneously reducing well cost by drilling multiple laterals from a single main wellbore. One particularly efficient variant of multilateral well design is Fishbone Drilling (FbD). This method involves drilling different branches with efficient geometry, a design informed by the length of the branches, their spacing, the angle between the branches and the main borehole, and the direction of the branches.
This study investigates the prospective application of Fishbone Drilling technology to boost production from geothermal wells in the Williston Basin, North Dakota. The project's objective is to evaluate the economic viability of exploiting the Bakken Formation's potential for geothermal utilization from existing oil and gas wells. The study suggests that increasing the number of branches in the fishbone well design could reduce injection pressure and expedite thermal breakthrough. An optimized fishbone design in terms of branch length, number, and angle could significantly enhance the performance of multilateral-well Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS). The paper will present a sensitivity analysis for various scenarios. While this technology has yet to be implemented in geothermal wells in the USA, the results disclose a higher enthalpy for a fishbone well with 16 branches, each 500m in length for the injector well and 700m for the producer well and angled at 45 degrees from the main lateral. This research provides valuable insights and recommendations for the application of fishbone technology for EGS operations in North Dakota. In the context of multi-well pad operations, the study’s findings underscore the strategic benefit of placing a Fishbone well in the middle, surrounded by horizontal producer wells, thereby enhancing operational efficiency and the performance of the EGS.
... Lost circulation remains one of the most troublesome problems in drilling oil and gas wells. Losing expensive drilling mud to the formation and the non-productive time (NPT) spent recovering circulation often increases the total well expenses by 10-25% (Allahvirdizadeh, 2020;Lécolier et al., 2005). The consequences of leaving this problem unattended may lead to other wellbore instability problems, such as differential sticking, poor hole cleaning, well control issues, and packoffs (Whitfill and Wang, 2005). ...
... An additional critical element that can lead to failure is cement integrity at high temperatures. Even if cement shows adequate behavior at early stages of setting, it may lose its strength after continuous exposure to high temperatures (Allahvirdizadeh, 2020). If cement is not intact and properly bonded, the likelihood of casing failure increases. ...
The current work provides a historical overview of well IDDP-1, emphasizing its key design considerations, challenges and implications. Geothermal energy has witnessed significant growth globally, and Iceland is at the forefront of its development. The Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP) was initiated in 2000 to explore the potential of developing deeper reservoirs with higher enthalpy potential by drilling into the supercritical zone. The IDDP-1 well, the first well drilled under this project with the aim of producing supercritical fluids, unexpectedly encountered a magma chamber at 2104m, leading to several challenges and ultimately the termination of drilling operations. Nevertheless, the IDDP-1 well was successfully put in production after setting a sacrificial casing. It discharged superheated steam at 450 °C, approaching an enthalpy of 3200 kJ/kg, thereby becoming the world's hottest geothermal well. The prevailing consensus is that a magma-EGS was created by fracturing the formation located just above the magma chamber. This work outlines lessons learned during drilling of the IDDP-1 well and addresses some development considerations of a magma-EGS in Krafla.
