Resource Characterization to Estimate Potential for Electricity Co-Production at Blackburn Oil Field, Nevada
Conference
·
OSTI ID:2284041
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that an annual average of 25 billion barrels of hot water are produced from oil and gas wells within the United States. The thermal energy available in the co-produced water stream is usually discarded, as the produced waters are considered an inconvenience by the operators and are disposed of using injection wells. However, utilizing organic Rankine cycle (ORC) generators, a vast amount of thermal energy can be captured and converted into electricity (albeit at relatively low efficiency due to the low temperatures). The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), in collaboration with Transitional Energy and Grant Canyon Oil & Gas, evaluated the feasibility of geothermal co-production of electricity by utilizing existing oil wells in Blackburn oil field in Nevada. The once prolific Blackburn oil field is located in Pine Valley, approximately 45 miles east-southeast of Elko, Nevada. Currently, the wells targeting the highly fractured Devonian Nevada dolomite reservoir are operating at a water cut ratio of more than 99%, with individual fluid (oil and water) production rates reaching 7.4 L/s (4,021 BBL/day). Analysis of publicly available data showed that the combination of the suitable wells' maximum historical production rates reached 22.90 L/s. The production from these wells occurs naturally and the wells are choked (and even shut down) by the operator to mitigate excessive water production, indicating a strong reservoir recharge and future opportunity to increase the water production for geothermal electricity generation. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the productivity of the existing wells, the performance of the reservoir, the surface network, and the operational constraints in order to achieve 1 MWe of electricity production from the field's water production. Utilizing the GEOPHIRES tool, we have determined that a twofold to threefold increase in the total fluid production, compared to the historical production under artificial restraint (choke), is required to reach a 1-MWe net target output for a low-temperature ORC system with air-cooled condensers. Lower flow rates would be required when utilizing water-based condensers instead of air-cooled condensers. However, that would require a constant supply of cold water, which may be challenging given the arid environment of the project site.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Geothermal Technologies Office
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- OSTI ID:
- 2284041
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/CP-5700-87263; MainId:88038; UUID:bc1b6c54-58aa-4c77-ac57-35f0aa90494e; MainAdminId:70806
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Geothermal Reservoir Simulation Analysis in Support of Electricity Co-Production Feasibility Study at the Blackburn Oil Field, Nevada
Geothermal Reservoir Simulation Analysis in Support of Electricity Co-Production Feasibility Study at the Blackburn Oil Field, Nevada: Preprint
Evolution of a Geological Model for Co-Producing Electricity at the Blackburn Oil Field, Nevada: Preprint
Conference
·
Sun Jan 26 23:00:00 EST 2025
·
OSTI ID:2523644
Geothermal Reservoir Simulation Analysis in Support of Electricity Co-Production Feasibility Study at the Blackburn Oil Field, Nevada: Preprint
Conference
·
Wed Oct 30 20:00:00 EDT 2024
·
OSTI ID:2476302
Evolution of a Geological Model for Co-Producing Electricity at the Blackburn Oil Field, Nevada: Preprint
Conference
·
Sun Apr 21 20:00:00 EDT 2024
·
OSTI ID:2341528