التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
| العنوان: |
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CO-PRODUCTION OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY AND FLUIDS |
| Document Number: |
20120312545 |
| تاريخ النشر: |
December 13, 2012 |
| Appl. No: |
13/491680 |
| Application Filed: |
June 08, 2012 |
| مستخلص: |
Systems include a well having a production casing and a production tubing positioned therein, forming an annulus there between. A packer is positioned in the annulus at a position sufficient to separate the annulus into a first portion and a second portion. The well further includes a tie-back conduit positioned in the first portion of the annulus and configured to allow heat transfer between a working fluid flowing through the first portion of the annulus and a production fluid flowing through the production tubing, thus separating the circulating working fluid from fluids in the second portion of the annulus. A working fluid loop is fluidly connected to the first portion of the annulus. Co-production methods, methods of modeling, and computer-readable media including the methods of modeling are disclosed. |
| Inventors: |
Suryanarayana, P. V. (Plano, TX, US); Sachdeva, Parveen (Frisco, TX, US); Ceyhan, Ismail (Houston, TX, US); Ring, Gary Allen (Collinsville, TX, US) |
| Claim: |
1. A system comprising: a well comprising a production casing and a production tubing positioned therein, forming an annulus there between; an isolation packer positioned in the annulus at a position sufficient to separate the annulus into a first portion and a second portion; the well further comprising a tie-back conduit positioned in the first portion of the annulus and configured to allow heat transfer between a working fluid flowing through the first portion of the annulus and a production fluid traversing through the production tubing, thus separating the circulating working fluid from fluids in the second portion of the annulus; and a working fluid loop fluidly connected to the first portion of the annulus. |
| Claim: |
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the tie-back conduit is positioned to allow heat transfer between the working fluid circulating through the first portion of the annulus and the production fluid traversing through the production tubing as the production fluid flows out of the well. |
| Claim: |
3. The system of claim 2 wherein the tie-back conduit and production tubing are configured into a substantially parallel-flow heat exchanger. |
| Claim: |
4. The system of claim 1 further comprising: the tie-back conduit separating the first portion of the annulus into a working fluid delivery side and a working fluid return side. |
| Claim: |
5. The system of claim 4 wherein the working fluid loop comprises: a working fluid return conduit fluidly connecting the working fluid return side to an expansion turbine; a working fluid delivery conduit fluidly connecting the working fluid delivery side to cooling facility; and an expanded working fluid conduit fluidly connecting the expansion turbine and the cooling facility. |
| Claim: |
6. The system of claim 4 further comprising a pump allowing variation of rate of flow of the working fluid in the delivery conduit. |
| Claim: |
7. The system of claim 1 wherein the well has a depth of at least 10,000 feet, and the isolation packer and tie-back conduit are positioned and configured so that the tie-back conduit has a length ranging from 5000 feet to just under 10,000 feet. |
| Claim: |
8. An annular circulation co-production system comprising: a well comprising a production casing and a production tubing positioned therein, forming an annulus there between; an isolation packer positioned in the annulus at a position sufficient to separate the annulus into a first portion and a second portion; the well further comprising a tie-back conduit positioned in the first portion of the annulus and configured to allow heat transfer between a working fluid flowing through the first portion of the annulus and a production fluid traversing through the production tubing, thus separating the circulating working fluid from fluids in the second portion of the annulus, the tie-back conduit separating the first portion of the annulus into a working fluid delivery side and a working fluid return side; and a working fluid loop fluidly connected to the first portion of the annulus, the working fluid loop comprising: a working fluid return conduit fluidly connecting the working fluid return side to a power generation unit; a working fluid delivery conduit fluidly connecting the working fluid delivery side to cooling facility; and an expanded working fluid conduit fluidly connecting the power generation unit and the cooling facility. |
| Claim: |
9. The annular circulation co-production system of claim 8 wherein the tie-back conduit is positioned to allow heat transfer between the working fluid circulating through the first portion of the annulus and the production fluid traversing through the production tubing as the production fluid flows out of the well. |
| Claim: |
10. The system of claim 9 wherein the tie-back conduit and production tubing are configured into a substantially parallel-flow heat exchanger. |
| Claim: |
11. A method comprising: positioning a production casing and a production tubing into a well, forming an annulus there between; positioning an isolation packer in the annulus at a position sufficient to separate the annulus into a first portion and a second portion; positioning a tie-back conduit in the first portion of the annulus to allow heat transfer between a working fluid flowing through the first portion of the annulus and a production fluid traversing through the production tubing, thus separating the circulating working fluid from fluids in the second portion of the annulus; flowing a working fluid into the first portion of the annulus; flowing a production fluid through the production tubing; and transferring heat between the production fluid and the working fluid in the first portion of the annulus. |
| Claim: |
12. The method of claim 11 comprising flowing the working fluid and production fluid in a substantially parallel flow arrangement. |
| Claim: |
13. The method of claim 11 comprising flowing a working fluid return stream from the first portion of the annulus to a power generation unit, and extracting power from the working fluid return stream using the power generation unit, forming a depleted working fluid. |
| Claim: |
14. The method of claim 13 comprising flowing the depleted working fluid to a cooling facility, forming a working fluid delivery stream. |
| Claim: |
15. The method of claim 13 comprising flowing the production fluid out of the well and to a facility for processing. |
| Claim: |
16. The method of claim 13 wherein the power generation unit comprises an expansion turbine. |
| Claim: |
17. The method of claim 14 wherein the cooling facility is a cooling tower. |
| Claim: |
18. The method of claim 14 comprising pumping the working fluid delivery stream to the first portion of the annulus to generate enough hydraulic energy to force the working fluid to the power generation unit. |
| Claim: |
19. A method of producing a fluid from a source, the method comprising the steps of: positioning a production casing and a production tubing into a well, forming an annulus there between; positioning an isolation packer in the annulus at a position sufficient to separate the annulus into a first portion and a second portion; positioning a tie-back conduit in the first portion of the annulus to allow heat transfer between a working fluid flowing through the first portion of the annulus and a production fluid traversing through the production tubing, thus separating the circulating working fluid from fluids in the second portion of the annulus; flowing a working fluid into the first portion of the annulus; producing a production fluid through the production tubing; and transferring heat between the production fluid as it is produced from the source and the working fluid as the working fluid flows into and out of the first annulus portion. |
| Claim: |
20. A method of modeling an annular circulation co-production system, the method comprising: identifying flow streams, depending upon flow and thermal conditions, the flow streams comprising at least: a production fluid stream divided into first and second production fluid streams as per the thermal conditions, the first production fluid stream flowing through a production tubing of a downhole heat exchanger section of a wellbore, a working fluid return stream which thermally interacts with the first production fluid stream through the production tubing, the second production fluid stream thermally interacting solely with the wellbore and formation below the downhole heat exchanger section, optionally through a lower casing, and a working fluid delivery stream flowing into and through the downhole heat exchanger section, wherein the downhole heat exchanger section comprises an annulus between the production tubing and an upper casing, the annulus divided by an isolation packer positioned in the annulus at a position sufficient to separate the annulus into a first portion and a second portion, and a tie-back conduit positioned in the first portion of the annulus and configured to allow heat transfer between the working fluid return stream flowing through the first portion of the annulus and the first production fluid stream traversing through the production tubing, thus separating circulating working fluid from fluids in the second portion of the annulus; modeling heat transfer between the second production fluid stream and the wellbore and formation below the downhole heat exchanger section, and optionally through a lower casing, using a first equation; modeling heat transfer between the working fluid delivery stream and the formation through the upper casing using a second equation; modeling heat transfer between the working fluid return stream and the first production fluid using a third equation; modeling heat transfer between the working fluid return stream and the working fluid delivery stream using a fourth equation, the first, second, third, and fourth equations forming a coupled system of equations; and performing an energy balance for the system by solving the coupled system of equations numerically, providing heat transfer rates to determine the pressure, temperature and quality profile in the working fluid streams. |
| Claim: |
21. The method of claim 20 comprising modeling frictional pressure losses for one or more of the streams. |
| Claim: |
22. The method of claim 20 comprising factoring in a gravitational gradient based on in-situ density of one or more of the streams calculated using a PVT model. |
| Claim: |
23. The method of claim 20 comprising: modeling a surface system to calculate the net power generated from the working fluid return stream in a power generation unit. |
| Claim: |
24. The method of claim 20 comprising: modeling heat transfer between the working fluid stream and the produced fluid stream in a binary system using a fifth equation; performing an energy balance for the binary system by solving the fifth equation, providing heat transfer rates to determine the pressure, temperature and quality profile in the working fluid streams for the binary system; and comparing the pressure, temperature and quality profile in the working fluid streams for the binary system with the pressure, temperature and quality profile in the working fluid streams for the co-production system. |
| Claim: |
25. The method of claim 20 comprising a computer server and software in or accessible to the computer server, the computer server using said software to implement the method to aid in thermal-hydraulic analysis of different prospects and well designs. |
| Claim: |
26. The method of claim 25 wherein the software models wellbore geometries having up to three flow streams. |
| Claim: |
27. The method of claim 25 wherein the software models at least five different working fluids. |
| Claim: |
28. The method of claim 25 wherein the software models systems producing fluids selected from the group consisting of water, hydrocarbons, and mixtures thereof. |
| Claim: |
29. The method of claim 28 wherein the hydrocarbons are selected from the group consisting of liquids, gases, and mixtures thereof. |
| Claim: |
30. The method of claim 20 wherein both binary and annular circulation co-production systems are modeled. |
| Claim: |
31. The method of claim 20 wherein systems comprising flow path configurations other than binary and annular circulation co-production are modeled. |
| Claim: |
32. The method of claim 31 wherein the systems comprising flow path configurations other than binary and annular circulation co-production have a maximum of three flow streams interacting. |
| Claim: |
33. A computer-readable medium encoded with processing instructions for implementing a method of modeling an annular circulation co-production system, the method comprising: identifying flow streams, depending upon flow and thermal conditions, the flow streams comprising at least: a production fluid stream divided into first and second production fluid streams as per the thermal conditions, the first production fluid stream flowing through a production tubing of a downhole heat exchanger section of a wellbore, a working fluid return stream which thermally interacts with the first production fluid stream through the production tubing, the second production fluid stream thermally interacting solely with the wellbore and formation below the downhole heat exchanger section, optionally through a lower casing, and a working fluid delivery stream flowing into and through the downhole heat exchanger section, wherein the downhole heat exchanger section comprises an annulus between the production tubing and an upper casing, the annulus divided by an isolation packer positioned in the annulus at a position sufficient to separate the annulus into a first portion and a second portion, and a tie-back conduit positioned in the first portion of the annulus and configured to allow heat transfer between the working fluid return stream flowing through the first portion of the annulus and the first production fluid stream traversing through the production tubing, thus separating circulating working fluid from fluids in the second portion of the annulus; modeling heat transfer between the second production fluid stream and the wellbore and formation below the downhole heat exchanger section, and optionally through a lower casing, using a first equation; modeling heat transfer between the working fluid delivery stream and the formation through the upper casing using a second equation; modeling heat transfer between the working fluid return stream and the first production fluid using a third equation; modeling heat transfer between the working fluid return stream and the working fluid delivery stream using a fourth equation, the first, second, third, and fourth equations forming a coupled system of equations; and performing an energy balance for the system by solving the coupled system of equations numerically, providing heat transfer rates to determine the pressure, temperature and quality profile in the working fluid streams. |
| Claim: |
34. The computer-readable medium of claim 33 comprising modeling frictional pressure losses for one or more of the streams. |
| Claim: |
35. The computer-readable medium of claim 33 comprising factoring in a gravitational gradient based on in-situ density of one or more of the streams calculated using a PVT model. |
| Claim: |
36. The computer-readable medium of claim 33 comprising: modeling a surface system to calculate the net power generated from the working fluid return stream in a power generation unit. |
| Claim: |
37. The computer-readable medium of claim 33 comprising: modeling heat transfer between the working fluid stream and the produced fluid stream in a binary system using a fifth equation; performing an energy balance for the binary system by solving the fifth equation, providing heat transfer rates to determine the pressure, temperature and quality profile in the working fluid streams for the binary system; and comparing the pressure, temperature and quality profile in the working fluid streams for the binary system with the pressure, temperature and quality profile in the working fluid streams for the co-production system. |
| Claim: |
38. The computer-readable medium of claim 33 comprising a computer server and software in or accessible to the computer server, the computer server using said software to implement the method to aid in thermal-hydraulic analysis of different prospects and well designs. |
| Claim: |
39. The computer-readable medium of claim 38 wherein the software models wellbore geometries having up to three flow streams. |
| Claim: |
40. The computer-readable medium of claim 38 wherein the software models at least five different working fluids. |
| Claim: |
41. The computer-readable medium of claim 38 wherein the software models systems producing fluids selected from the group consisting of water, hydrocarbons, and mixtures thereof. |
| Claim: |
42. The computer-readable medium of claim 41 wherein the hydrocarbons are selected from the group consisting of liquids, gases, and mixtures thereof. |
| Claim: |
43. The computer-readable medium of claim 33 wherein both binary and annular circulation co-production systems are modeled. |
| Claim: |
44. The computer-readable medium of claim 33 wherein systems comprising flow path configurations other than binary and annular circulation co-production are modeled. |
| Claim: |
45. The computer-readable medium of claim 44 wherein the systems comprising flow path configurations other than binary and annular circulation co-production have a maximum of three flow streams interacting. |
| Current U.S. Class: |
166/369 |
| Current International Class: |
21; 21; 06; 21 |
| رقم الانضمام: |
edspap.20120312545 |
| قاعدة البيانات: |
USPTO Patent Applications |
