Experimental Study on the Heat Exchange Mechanism in a Simulated Self-Circulation Wellbore

Liang Zhang, Songhe Geng, Jun Kang, Jiahao Chao, Linchao Yang and Fangping Yan
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Liang Zhang: School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
Songhe Geng: School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
Jun Kang: School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
Jiahao Chao: School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
Linchao Yang: School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
Fangping Yan: Department of Petroleum Engineering, Chengde Petroleum College, Chengde 067000, China

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-22

Abstract: Self-circulation wellbore is a new technique for geothermal development in hot dry rocks (HDR), which uses a U-shape channel composed of tubing and casing as the heat exchanger. In this study, a self-circulation wellbore in HDR on a laboratory scale was built, and a serial of experiments were conducted to investigate the heat exchange law and the influencing factors on the heat mining rate of the wellbore. A similarity analysis was also made to estimate the heat-mining capacity of the wellbore on a field scale. The experimental results show that the large thermal conductivity and heat capacity of granite with high temperature can contribute to a large heat-mining rate. A high injection rate can cause a high convective heat transfer coefficient in wellbore, while a balance is needed between the heat mining rate and the outlet temperature. An inner tubing with low thermal conductivity can significantly reduce the heat loss to the casing annulus. The similarity analysis indicates that a heat mining rate of 1.25 MW can be reached when using a 2000 m long horizontal well section in a 150 °C HDR reservoir with a circulation rate of 602.8 m 3 /day. This result is well corresponding to the published data.

Keywords: hot dry rocks; self-circulation wellbore; heat exchange; heat mining rate; similarity analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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