Webinar – Repurposing oil and gas wells in Mexico for geothermal cascade use, 25 September 2026
#image_title
Join us on 25 September 2026 for a webinar on the repurposing of waste heat from oil and gas wells in Mexico for power generation and cascade heat use.
As part of the regular Focus on Geothermal Webinar series – a partnership of Enerchange and ThinkGeoEnergy, we are proud to host Dr. Rodrigo Alarcon Flores of the Mexican Geothermal Association (Asociación Mexicana de Geotermia / AGM) for a webinar on “Repurposing Thermal Waste Heat in Oil & Gas Wells in Mexico for Sustainable Cascade Use.” Further details are as follows:
Date: 25 September 2026
Time: 16:00 CEST / 08:00 CDMX
Registration: Click here to register
Speaker: Dr. Rodrigo Alarcon Flores, Board Member of the Mexican Geothermal Association & Researcher at the UNAM Institute of Engineering
Southeastern Mexico’s oil fields host an estimated 100–200 high-flow gas wells across the Veracruz, Tabasco, and Chiapas basins, delivering surface temperatures of 80–95°C from reservoirs such as Ixachi and Quesqui, where bottomhole temperatures exceed 160°C at depths beyond 7,000 m. Using the FAPA workflow (Flow characterization, Analysis, Pre-feasibility, and Application) together with closed-loop coaxial downhole heat exchangers, this residual enthalpy can be recovered without contacting or compromising the produced hydrocarbon stream or wellbore integrity, preserving fluid purity while capturing several megawatts of thermal potential per field cluster.
The recovered heat feeds an integrated thermodynamic cascade: high-grade enthalpy first drives 500 kWe Organic Rankine Cycle units for on-site electricity generation and local electrification, while the remaining medium- and low-grade heat is cascaded into industrial food dehydration (modular DGA plants), absorption refrigeration, and sustainable aquaculture.
By converting a legacy fluid-cooling liability into a carbon-neutral energy efficiency asset, this model offers a replicable, measurable-impact framework (in avoided CO? emissions and preserved food tonnage) for rural economic diversification and regional value creation.
About the speaker
Dr. Rodrigo Alarcon Flores is a Mechanical Engineer with over 12 years of experience in 12 years of experience in academia and specialized renewable energy consulting, focused on thermal systems, energy efficiency, and turbomachinery for geothermal applications. He holds a Master’s degree in Energy from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), specializing in Processes and Efficient Energy Use, and a Ph.D. in Energy Systems from the same institution, also specializing in Processes and Efficient Energy Use.
He was an undergraduate professor at UNAM’s Faculty of Engineering (2020-2025) and, since the 2026-1 semester, has held the chair for the course Direct Uses of Geothermal Energy in the Specialization in Geothermal Resource Exploration and Utilization. He coordinated the Geothermal Binary Cycles project within the iiDEA Group at the Institute of Engineering (2010-2025), generating research published in indexed journals as well as patents.
He is a member of Mexico’s National System of Researchers (Sistema Nacional de Investigadoras e Investigadores) and, since August 2025, a Researcher at the UNAM Institute of Engineering, Morelia Academic Unit. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Mexican Geothermal Association (2026–2027 term).