Thermodynamic Modeling of the Advanced Geothermal System using Inclined Well Applications

Abstract

The advanced geothermal system (AGS), also called the closed-loop geothermal technology, has advantages of being independent of available reservoir fluids and good permeability, stable energy output, and has already widely been used in shallow geothermal systems for spacing heating purposes and pilot tested in the deep underground for the electricity power generation purpose. Commercial success requires extreme long horizontal wellbore completion and high reservoir temperature, limiting its application to power generation in sedimentary basins. Reaching deeper high-temperature aquifers with the feasible technological solution in drilling while reducing the cost is critical. Here we demonstrate that the AGS using inclined well could be a good option to improve the performance of the AGS thermodynamically. Through the analytical modeling and sensitivity study, the inclined well system could provide more energy output than the traditional horizontal well system. In multilateral applications, the dense wellbores setting in the underground could bring significant internal wellbore interferences, and result in the overall energy recovery efficiency loss. Detailed analysis on the number of multilateral, dip angles, lateral length, the distance between the descending wellbore and ascending wellbores, spacing between the nearby inclined wellbore pairs are studied in this work. The results of the study could help to provide a better understanding of the thermodynamics of the AGS using inclined well applications.