How heavy-oil technology can be a perfect fit for geothermal energy
Oil pump near Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada (source: flickr/ Arthur Chapman, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
15 Aug 2017
Canadian researchers see an opportunity in utilising heavy--oil technology to capture rock heat more efficient and improve the output of EGS-based power generation.
In an article published earlier this month, the Journal of Petroleum Technology talks about technologies designed to produce heavy oil with hot steams.
The article discusses findings of an applied research group in Alberta, Canada on how technologies involved with heavy oil have the potential to be used around the world.
The author describes how the technologies could be used to produce geothermal power instead of oil.
With a reference to enhanced/ engineered geothermal systems (EGS), it is described how steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). Canadian company C-FER Technologies describes how the geothermal sector could be using new SAGD technologies “to make capturing rock heat more efficient and improve the output of this type of power plant. To prove whether the idea is feasible, C-FER is seeking partners for a new joint industry project that it recently proposed.
The ultimate aim is to design a dual-well geothermal plant capable of generating between 1 MW and 5 MW. That is comparable to a wind turbine that may generate between 2 MW and 3 MW. There is one big advantage with the geothermal route vs. other renewables: the former can generate baseload power when the sun is not shining and when the wind is not blowing.”, so Brian Wagg, Director of Business Development at the Edmonton-Canada based C-FER Technologies.
The motivation for this research is clear, to help Canadian oilfield equipment manufacturers and service companies expand beyond the struggling heavy-oil sector.
For more see the link below.
Source: Journal of Petroleum Technology
