Multi-fluid renewable geo-energy systems and methods
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Solution Overview
Problem
Geothermal energy systems face challenges such as high costs and risks in prospecting and well drilling, parasitic power costs, and limited geographical suitability, while renewable energy sources like wind and solar have diurnal and seasonal variability, requiring backup power sources that emit CO2, complicating climate change mitigation efforts.
Innovation Solution
A multi-fluid geothermal energy system using concentric rings of working fluid injection and brine production wells, supplemented with nitrogen or carbon dioxide, to enhance energy extraction and storage, allowing for diurnal-to-seasonal thermal and bulk energy storage and grid stabilization, leveraging horizontal well drilling and thermal augmentation with solar or waste heat.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional geothermal systems use single-well or simple well configurations, then drilling costs and risks are reduced, but energy production efficiency is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The geothermal system is segmented into multiple functional zones with different well types arranged in concentric rings. Injection wells are positioned in an inner ring while production wells are positioned in an outer ring, creating distinct functional zones that improve fluid circulation efficiency and energy extraction while distributing drilling risks across multiple locations.
Solution Approach 2:
The well configuration uses a nested ring structure where the inner injection well ring is positioned within the outer production well ring. This nested arrangement allows the system to maximize the use of subsurface space, create efficient radial fluid flow patterns, and maintain compact system geometry while achieving high productivity.
2Productivity
If geothermal systems operate continuously to maximize energy production, then productivity increases, but parasitic power costs for fluid recirculation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system is designed to be largely self-powered by utilizing the thermal energy extracted from the geothermal brine to drive the recirculation pumps and other system components. The heat exchangers transfer thermal energy from the produced brine to preheat injection fluids or power generation cycles, creating a self-sustaining energy loop that minimizes external parasitic power requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system optimizes operational parameters such as injection temperature, pressure, and flow rates to maximize the thermal efficiency of the recirculation process. By carefully controlling these parameters, the system minimizes the energy required for fluid recirculation while maintaining high productivity, achieving optimal balance between energy output and parasitic power consumption.
3Adaptability or versatility
If geothermal systems are deployed in geographically limited settings to maintain technical feasibility, then system reliability is maintained, but adaptability to different locations is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The concentric ring well configuration and thermal augmentation system are designed to be universally applicable across diverse geothermal settings. The system can adapt to different reservoir types, temperatures, and geological conditions by adjusting operational parameters and well spacing while maintaining the core functional architecture, thereby expanding geographical adaptability without compromising reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
Thermal augmentation using intermediate heat transfer fluids or surface-based thermal processing serves as a mediator between the geothermal reservoir and the power generation system. This intermediary approach allows the system to bridge gaps between varying reservoir characteristics and consistent performance requirements, enabling reliable operation across geographically diverse locations with different thermal conditions.
4Object-generated harmful factors
If CO2 is captured from exhaust streams for geologic storage to reduce CO2 intensity, then CO2 emissions are reduced, but the cost of supplying CO2 increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system converts the geothermal brine, which contains dissolved CO2 and other gases, into a beneficial resource by utilizing it for thermal energy extraction and fluid injection. The CO2 already present in the geothermal brine is naturally captured and sequestered in the reservoir during the energy production process, transforming what would be a harmful emission into part of the energy generation mechanism and eliminating the need for expensive external CO2 capture and supply infrastructure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach increases geothermal energy production efficiency, reduces parasitic loads, and provides dispatchable power generation, mitigating induced seismicity and leakage, while enabling efficient storage and grid stabilization, thus addressing the variability of renewable energy sources and reducing CO2 emissions.
Implementation Method 1
A supplemental working fluid may be injected into some of the working fluid injection wells to augment a pressure in the reservoir formation, to thus drive a flow of the brine up through the production well and up through the brine production wells
Implementation Method 2
Prior to being injected, brine may be thermally augmented by either heating, using a combination of solar thermal energy, waste heat, or geothermal heat from a separate reservoir
Implementation Method 3
a geothermal energy system to extract geothermal energy from a reservoir formation
Data Source
AI summary
A geo-energy production method for extracting thermal energy from a reservoir formation. A production well extracts brine from the reservoir formation. A plurality of working fluid injection (“WFI”) wells may be arranged proximate to the production well to at least partially circumscribe the production well. A plurality of brine production (“BP”) wells may be arranged in a vicinity of the WFI wells to at least partially circumscribe the WFI wells. A working fluid is injected into the WFI wells to help drive a flow of the brine up through the production and BP wells, together with at least a portion of the injected working fluid. Parasitic-load time-shifting and to storing of excess solar thermal energy may also be performed.