Smart-GeoWells: Smart technologies for optimal design, drilling, completion and management of geothermal wells
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Earth Science and Engineering
Abstract
A novel product will be developed for designing, drilling, completing and managing well systems that incorporate many laterals with increased reservoir contact for geothermal industry. A hybrid drilling approach, based on conventional and jetting (water and supercritical-CO2) technologies, will be employed along with advanced numerical models to help optimise the deployment and management of the well system. The product targets the fast-growing geothermal industry, and can be readily re-applied to oil/gas production, with a particular focus on intermediate-deep geothermal resources. Objectives of this work include: (1) application of advanced well drilling and completion technologies for more efficient well system construction; (2) evaluation of new-generation numerical models for solving fluid flow and heat transfer problems in complex well-reservoir systems, (3) optimisation of well design and management for cost-effective production, and (4) deployment of the product to geothermal reservoirs for field trials. The novelty of this project comes from the unique combination of new drilling and completion technologies with novel computational methodologies for well management and production.
China's current energy demands require innovative, cost-effective and environment-friendly solutions. We are proposing an innovative multi-lateral well system Smart-GeoWells to help meet these challenges. This will be used to develop cleaner, more affordable, localised (building, village, town, city) heating/hot water and electricity, harnessing almost limitless, sustainable and secure geothermal energy. In order to develop the new multi-lateral wells (with potentially hundreds of laterals), the proposed team (each member a world-leader in their fields) will apply their specialised knowledge in testing and exploiting the new well engineering solutions, hybrid drilling technologies, advanced numerical modelling and optimal well design and management methods. For the UK and China teams, this will be the first stepping stone towards long-term collaboration, aiming at optimal exploitation of geothermal resources and if successful will have a massive impact on the energy sector. However, the scope of the work is also immense and thus our initial product (that we aim to develop rapidly) will be focussed on geothermal hot water production, although the developed technology can serve as a longer term product for geothermal electricity generation as well as O&G production. The new multi-lateral drilling concepts of XLTL (project partner) together with the novel techniques in modelling multiphase fluid flows and heat transfer through these large number of laterals (similar to the fishbone structure), will lead to economic and efficient ways of drilling financially-competitive multi-lateral wells through: a) enhanced contact and connectivity with geothermal regions; b) minimisation of environmental damage i.e. pollution of groundwater sources/surrounding countryside and c) optimal control/management of the production wells. During the project, Sinopec will provide geothermal sites, test equipment and specialised engineers/technicans for field trials (the company's funding contribution amounts to 5 million RMB) with which the advanced drilling techniques will be examined and the prediction software will be validated. The developed Smart-GeoWells platform will be made available to the interested local and other companies/businesses, as well as public services, and will also benefit them through enhanced knowledge and technology transfer. The longer-term implications on the welfare of the local and other communities are immense, both directly through reduced pollution (water and air) and climate change impacts and, indirectly, through economic impacts.
China's current energy demands require innovative, cost-effective and environment-friendly solutions. We are proposing an innovative multi-lateral well system Smart-GeoWells to help meet these challenges. This will be used to develop cleaner, more affordable, localised (building, village, town, city) heating/hot water and electricity, harnessing almost limitless, sustainable and secure geothermal energy. In order to develop the new multi-lateral wells (with potentially hundreds of laterals), the proposed team (each member a world-leader in their fields) will apply their specialised knowledge in testing and exploiting the new well engineering solutions, hybrid drilling technologies, advanced numerical modelling and optimal well design and management methods. For the UK and China teams, this will be the first stepping stone towards long-term collaboration, aiming at optimal exploitation of geothermal resources and if successful will have a massive impact on the energy sector. However, the scope of the work is also immense and thus our initial product (that we aim to develop rapidly) will be focussed on geothermal hot water production, although the developed technology can serve as a longer term product for geothermal electricity generation as well as O&G production. The new multi-lateral drilling concepts of XLTL (project partner) together with the novel techniques in modelling multiphase fluid flows and heat transfer through these large number of laterals (similar to the fishbone structure), will lead to economic and efficient ways of drilling financially-competitive multi-lateral wells through: a) enhanced contact and connectivity with geothermal regions; b) minimisation of environmental damage i.e. pollution of groundwater sources/surrounding countryside and c) optimal control/management of the production wells. During the project, Sinopec will provide geothermal sites, test equipment and specialised engineers/technicans for field trials (the company's funding contribution amounts to 5 million RMB) with which the advanced drilling techniques will be examined and the prediction software will be validated. The developed Smart-GeoWells platform will be made available to the interested local and other companies/businesses, as well as public services, and will also benefit them through enhanced knowledge and technology transfer. The longer-term implications on the welfare of the local and other communities are immense, both directly through reduced pollution (water and air) and climate change impacts and, indirectly, through economic impacts.
Planned Impact
Smart-GeoWells is a technology which will lead to the development of an economical, fast and environmentally sustainable geothermal energy production using new wellsn systems. It can lead to well productivity increases of more than 3 times and enable the wells to be produced quicker than conventional methods. This project will substantially reduce the commercial and technical risks in future development stages and will ultimately enable China and the UK to become a world technology leaders in geothermal energy. Smart-GeoWells embodies a novel concept which will allow numerous laterals to be drilled in various spread patterns, from a horizontal or a vertical well, without the need to use acid-loaded fracking fluids and without the use of hydraulic fracturing.
1. Environmental: (a) There is a potential for geothermal energy to substantially reduce fossil fuel burning as well as obtain readily available, renewable energy with sustained and predictable power output (not reliant on weather conditions) - essential for China to meet its growing industrial and public needs. The reduction in fissile fuel burning will: i) reduce CO2 emissions - hence, effect on climate change ii) reduced SO2-contribution when open-loop systems are used, compared to equivalent coal-based electricity plants; (iii) no pollutants relased when closed-loop systems are used; thus, an overall reduction in air pollution, hence enabling healthier atmospheric environments for people - particularly crucial for China due to its size and hence reduction of spreading of air pollutants worldwide. (b) Smaller area of land usage for injection and production geothermal wells; avoidance of land subsidence by re-injection of wastewater. Thus, the everyday person in China will benefit from cleaner air, reduced climate change effects (natural hazards like flooding) from reduced CO2 emissions, cleaner water (reduced fracking).
2. Economics and Poverty: (a) Most developed nations have active policies of increasing their renewable energy supply including geothermal energy as long as political, technical and economic obstacles can be overcome. Our technology will be the first to achieve all of the above obstacles. Extensive patent searches have shown only one other emerging technique for creating multiple laterals, developed by a Norwegian company: Fishbones ASA - which, however, has fundamental issues:(i)a likelihood of gradual decline in flow (fluid and heat); (ii) future interventions more challenging as the turbines used in the drilling system remain in the motherbore; (iii) limitation on the drilled hole length. Our proposed methodology is free from these issues; (b) Local communities - particularly in remote villages and towns - will directly benefit from the increased economic activities in their area, through employment in the newly-developed geothermal plants, as well as reduced heating and electricity costs - particularly in North China;the resulting activity around geothermal plants will promote increasing wealth in such areas and reduction in poverty; (c) through education (research and technology) and improved environmental policies; (d) through reduction in financial risk of geothermal energy and sustained predictable renewable energy not provided by wind or solar energy;
3.Improved Health: The improved economy and reduction will poverty will have a direct effect on the health of the communities served by geothermal energy - as the quality of life will be massively improved through the provision of cleaner and cheaper electricity and heating, and through the reduction of pollution.
A better understanding and management of geothermal wells will also:(i) Improve exploitation of geothermal resources which will allow for decreased oil imports and lower air pollution, lower energy costs and ease the transition to post fossil fuel transport. (ii) The new well technology may also be used for CO2 re injection and sequestration.
1. Environmental: (a) There is a potential for geothermal energy to substantially reduce fossil fuel burning as well as obtain readily available, renewable energy with sustained and predictable power output (not reliant on weather conditions) - essential for China to meet its growing industrial and public needs. The reduction in fissile fuel burning will: i) reduce CO2 emissions - hence, effect on climate change ii) reduced SO2-contribution when open-loop systems are used, compared to equivalent coal-based electricity plants; (iii) no pollutants relased when closed-loop systems are used; thus, an overall reduction in air pollution, hence enabling healthier atmospheric environments for people - particularly crucial for China due to its size and hence reduction of spreading of air pollutants worldwide. (b) Smaller area of land usage for injection and production geothermal wells; avoidance of land subsidence by re-injection of wastewater. Thus, the everyday person in China will benefit from cleaner air, reduced climate change effects (natural hazards like flooding) from reduced CO2 emissions, cleaner water (reduced fracking).
2. Economics and Poverty: (a) Most developed nations have active policies of increasing their renewable energy supply including geothermal energy as long as political, technical and economic obstacles can be overcome. Our technology will be the first to achieve all of the above obstacles. Extensive patent searches have shown only one other emerging technique for creating multiple laterals, developed by a Norwegian company: Fishbones ASA - which, however, has fundamental issues:(i)a likelihood of gradual decline in flow (fluid and heat); (ii) future interventions more challenging as the turbines used in the drilling system remain in the motherbore; (iii) limitation on the drilled hole length. Our proposed methodology is free from these issues; (b) Local communities - particularly in remote villages and towns - will directly benefit from the increased economic activities in their area, through employment in the newly-developed geothermal plants, as well as reduced heating and electricity costs - particularly in North China;the resulting activity around geothermal plants will promote increasing wealth in such areas and reduction in poverty; (c) through education (research and technology) and improved environmental policies; (d) through reduction in financial risk of geothermal energy and sustained predictable renewable energy not provided by wind or solar energy;
3.Improved Health: The improved economy and reduction will poverty will have a direct effect on the health of the communities served by geothermal energy - as the quality of life will be massively improved through the provision of cleaner and cheaper electricity and heating, and through the reduction of pollution.
A better understanding and management of geothermal wells will also:(i) Improve exploitation of geothermal resources which will allow for decreased oil imports and lower air pollution, lower energy costs and ease the transition to post fossil fuel transport. (ii) The new well technology may also be used for CO2 re injection and sequestration.
Organisations
Publications
Fang F
(2016)
An efficient goal-based reduced order model approach for targeted adaptive observations
in International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids
Gomes J
(2016)
A force-balanced control volume finite element method for multi-phase porous media flow modelling
in International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids
Hu R
(2019)
Numerical simulation of floods from multiple sources using an adaptive anisotropic unstructured mesh method
in Advances in Water Resources
Kampitsis A
(2020)
Dynamic adaptive mesh optimisation for immiscible viscous fingering
in Computational Geosciences
Lei Q
(2018)
The shape and motion of gas bubbles in a liquid flowing through a thin annulus
in Journal of Fluid Mechanics
Lei Q
(2020)
Modelling the reservoir-to-tubing pressure drop imposed by multiple autonomous inflow control devices installed in a single completion joint in a horizontal well
in Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering
Lei, Qinghua
(2018)
The shape and motion of gas bubbles in a liquid flowing through a thin annulus
Description | This is still in early stage but we have started to realise that the diameter of the laterals of the well for heat extraction do require to be at least of 5 cm, otherwise the pressure drop is too high and the lateral well is useless farther to 25 metres. A radiator concept has been studied and analysed, the idea is not new. The concept consists in introducing cold water in the hot area of the reservoir and due to the buoyancy a convection process is generated and more heat can be extracted from the reservoir. Sensitivity maps have been developed, this maps show areas of importance towards a goal, for example production. We have developed a framework to automatically optimise the location of wells to maximise the heat production over a period of time. The framework consists of two different algorithms: 1) Genetic algorithm-based optimisation algorithm: A software based on genetic algorithms to find the maximum of a system based on the open source library DEAP has been developed. Genetic algorithms are known for its strength to locate maxima/minima for a given system. This software has been optimised to run the different scenarios in parallel. Moreover, a GUI has been developed to facilitate its use. 2) Trelis integration: The genetic algorithm needs to explore different scenarios and study the heat production. Given this information, a new set of locations is generated and studied, converging to the optimal location. Therefore, a methodology to automatically create a model with different well locations has been developed and linked through the genetic algorithm method. |
Exploitation Route | This is very important as the geothermal industry is being developed now in China and they thought that the diameter size did not matter, this would have meant that the productions would have been way worse that they should be and might put off the whole community in China in regard to this technology. Testing the Radiator concept is showing interesting results and might be applicable in industry. |
Sectors | Energy |
Description | A spin-out company has been formed partly based on the development of this project with the aim of improving the CFD codes for geothermal energy |
First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
Sector | Energy |
Impact Types | Economic |
Title | ENTEQ's drilling sensor |
Description | Enteq has developed a drilling sensor (which is being patented) with a very high precision that can work at very high temperatures. Imperative for correct drilling and to be able to apply the optimal well configurations obtained through numerical simulations. Enteq addressed the challenge of producing a sensor that could give accurate readings at very high temperatures and that can steer. |
Type Of Technology | Systems, Materials & Instrumental Engineering |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Impact | Acquiring a patent for their product Enteq said it had invested around $2.7m in the system to date and that commercialisation agreements with customers were now under discussion. SINOPEC has already shown interest on this and field trials are planned for this. |
Company Name | Geological Fluid Dynamics Limited |
Description | |
Year Established | 2018 |
Impact | The work on the new generation adaptive mesh reservoir model IC-FERST has resulting in the development of the development of Geological Fluid Dynamics (GFD). This promises to radically change the capability of reservoir modelling for geothermal and oil and gas. The company has already attracted interest from potential industrial funders. |
Description | ADMOS conference presentation |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presenting our research at a conference - discussing research with other academics and industrialists |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://congress.cimne.com/admos2019/frontal/default.asp |
Description | American Physical Society (APS) DFD 2017 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Artificial neural network for simulation of 1D falling film and thin liquid films over spinning disks. APS DFD 2017, November 2017, Denver, Colorado, USA. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | International Symposium for Distinguished Young Scholars |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Model reduction methods and applications. International Symposium for Distinguished Young Scholars, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan). 2018. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Invited presentation at EPSRC Durham Symposium Model Order Reduction |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Non-intrusive reduced order modelling and its applications. London Mathematical Society -- EPSRC Durham Symposium Model Order Reduction, Durham University, August 2017. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://www.maths.dur.ac.uk/lms/107/ |
Description | Presentation at 8th International Conference on Sustainable Development in Building and Environment, Chongqing, 2017. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presentation of "Effect of urban and building design on air flow and pollution dispersion", 8 International Conference on Sustainable Development in Building and Environment, Chongqing, China, November 2017. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://www.sudbeconference.com/ |
Description | Visit to CUPB to increase collaboration |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Conference/meeting to talk about the progress/update regarding the project as well as possible future collaborations. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Visit to partners in Beijin |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Conference/meeting to present the collaboration UK/China regarding the join efforts towards geothermal energy. The conference was attended by Sinopec star, students and post-graduates from CUPB (Chinese University of Petroleum Beijing) and staff from CUPB. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |