High-Pressure and High-Temperature Testing Protocol with Focus on Geothermal Wells

Abstract

The rise in the world population is directly proportional to the increase in energy demand; hence, in the coming future, energy production from fossil fuel and renewable sources will be utilized to meet the rising energy demand. However, the contribution from renewable sources will be more as many countries like the USA, China, India, and the European Union have pledged in the Paris Agreement to achieve the net zero goal by 2050. In that respect, geothermal energy will be an important source, as it is the only renewable energy independent of the weather conditions and remains in operational mode 98% of the time. However, extracting the heat from the earth’s interior comes with challenges. One such challenge is that the downhole tools used in geothermal wells should withstand the High-Pressure High-Temperature (HPHT) conditions and should not fail in these harsh environments. Otherwise, the success of the project and the integrity of the well can be compromised, which can be financially detrimental. Therefore, Welltec designed a zonal isolation tool specifically for the UTAH FORGE (Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy) project. The main features of this tool are long term reliability under geothermal downhole conditions and high pressure high temperature resistance. To test this tool at HPHT conditions (350°C and 10,000 psi) a dedicated testing facility have been designed and built at the University of Oklahoma. The testing setup allows for the tools to be tested continuously for three to six weeks at low costs. This study will give an insight into the set-up build to test this tool, the HPHT conditions upon the testing, and the procedure performed.