Introduction: Introducing our fellow scholar Samina Musa, as she enters her senior year as a chemical engineer major. Samina has been part of the UMBC McNairs Scholar Program since Spring 2017. We are proud of Samina's academic achievements, inspired by her positive attitude and excited for her commitment to renewable energies. We are thrilled that the McNair family has been part of her growth.
Samina's final summer as an undergrad has her conducting research at Stanford University as part of the SURGE Program. Her research focuses on modeling the recovery of geothermal energy from abandoned oil wells. We cannot wait to hear more about Samina's research!
Title of Presentation:
LCIG (Leave Carbon in the Ground) Revitalization of Abandoned Oil Reservoirs for Heat and Electricity Production
Research Mentor : Dr. Roland Horne
Department: Stanford University; Energy Resources Engineering
Abstract: Hundreds of thousands of oil wells have been or will be abandoned around the world. Due to technological and economic limitations, residual oil saturation is usually more than 40%. This study aims to convert abandoned oil wells into thermal energy producers. The mechanism to generate the energy would be in-situ combustion, injecting air to oxidize the remaining immobile oil, generating heat that could be brought to the surface through steam. After the high temperature zone of up to 350°C is developed, water can then be injected producing steam for electricity generation. In this study, this process of heat production and recovery of artificial geothermal energy was modeled using the CMG STARS software. Two scenarios were investigated to evaluate their ability to produce energy while minimizing carbon dioxide are compared. Scenario A is defined as producing steam through a central well and Scenario B is defined as producing steam through wells on both sides of an injector. Parameters such as water injection time was varied and simulated. In addition, it was found that that a configuration with a vertical injectors and horizontal production wells allows more energy extraction while minimizing carbon dioxide production. This work provides a framework for future studies regarding heat and electricity extraction from abandoned oil reservoirs.
