Compressed gas energy storage

Methods and systems for thermal energy storage and enhanced oil recovery are described herein. In some embodiments, natural gas may be injected down a well which has been previously hydraulically fractured to store thermal energy and to stimulate the well to greater hydrocarbon production.

BACKGROUND

Compressed-air energy storage (CAES) has been utilized as a cost-effective, grid-scale energy storage technology. CAES operation is conceptually simple: during periods of excess electrical power, a compressor forces air into underground caverns. Typically, these are underground salt caverns. When electricity demand grows, this energy may be released through a turbine generator to produce electricity. However, few locations possess suitable geology, and developing subsurface storage reservoirs (e.g., salt dome caverns) carries inherent risk and uncertainty that may derail projects. Conventional CAES projects are typically 100+ MW installations, requiring a market with significant excess energy storage needs and a large (i.e., several billions of dollars) capital investment.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present disclosure includes a system for storing thermal energy, the system comprising a compressor configured to compress a gas thereby creating a compressed gas, a pump configured to: inject the compressed gas into a reservoir of an oil well, and produce the compressed gas from the reservoir, and an expander configured to expand the compressed gas produced from the reservoir.

In some embodiments, the system also includes a solar array for generating thermal energy which may be stored in the gas. In some embodiments, the system also includes at least one wind turbine for generating thermal energy which may be stored in the gas.

In some embodiments, the gas may be stored in the reservoir for a period of time. In some embodiments, the compressor is configured to increase the temperature and pressure of the gas. In some embodiments, the expander is configured to decrease the temperature and pressure of the gas. In some embodiments, the gas is natural gas.

An aspect of the present disclosure includes a method comprising in order: routing a first quantity of a first gas through a compressor, injecting the first quantity of the first gas into a reservoir through an oil well, removing a second quantity of a second gas from the reservoir, and routing the second quantity of the second gas through an expander. In some embodiments, the method also includes adding an amount of air to the second quantity of the second gas during the removing. In some embodiments, the amount of air is combusted prior to the routing of the second quantity of the second gas through the expander. In some embodiments, the amount of air is sub-stoichiometric. In some embodiments, the first quantity of the first gas and the second quantity of the second gas are approximately equivalent. In some embodiments, the first quantity of the first gas is less than the second quantity of the second gas. In some embodiments, the second gas is a mixture of at least one of natural gas, oil, or water. In some embodiments, the method also includes storing the first quantity of the first gas in the reservoir for a period of time. In some embodiments, the first gas is natural gas. In some embodiments, the oil well had previously been hydraulically fractured.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Disclosed herein are systems and methods for storing thermal energy in oil and gas reservoirs in the form of a compressed gas. The methods and systems may also be utilized for enhanced oil recovery. Some methods described herein may store excess electrical energy in the form of compressed gas in unconventional reservoirs using wells that have been hydraulically fractured (i.e., “fracked”) to provide a grid-scale intermittent dispatchable storage solution. The present disclosure may use the natural geothermal gradient and subsurface thermal energy storage to increase the round-trip efficiency of thermal energy storage processes and decrease equipment requirements.

Unconventional reservoirs are reservoirs (i.e., permeable rock) that require special recovery operations outside of conventional operating practices to remove the hydrocarbons in the unconventional reservoir. Unconventional reservoirs include tight gas sands, oil and gas shales, coalbed methane, heavy oil and tar sands, and gas-hydrate deposits. The removal or extraction of hydrocarbons, water, or other substances from an oil well is known as production.

Production from unconventional shale reservoirs is possible because of hydraulically fractured wells, some of which are horizontal. An oil well that has been hydraulically fractured has fractures in the formation of the reservoir which result in greater permeability from the reservoir to the wellbore. The dual-porosity environment facilitates the flow of hydrocarbons from small pores of the matrix of the reservoir, to the hydraulic fractures, then to the wellbore. When the well begins to flow (meaning hydrocarbons are produced at the surface), fluid in the hydraulic fractures is produced more quickly than fluids from the matrix of the reservoir. Thus, production is initially dominated by hydraulic fracture flow, followed by flow from the matrix of the reservoir through the hydraulic fractures.

In some embodiments, compressed natural gas is stored in reservoirs by being injected by a pump into wells which have been hydraulically fracked but are no longer in production.FIG. 1is a conceptual schematic showing one embodiment of a system100for using compressed natural gas for energy storage in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The system100includes a compressor105, an expander115, a well110which had previously been hydraulically fractured and contains fractures130, a surface thermal energy storage tank135, and a source of renewable energy and electrical generation, shown as solar array120and wind farm125. The well110extends into a reservoir and the fractures130exist to pull hydrocarbons from the reservoir to the well110. In some embodiments the well may be horizontal, however, in other embodiments the well may be vertical.

The concepts of the present disclosure may be expanded and/or combined in various ways. The concepts may be combined with additional thermal energy storage on the surface and/or with heat addition from other external sources (example—industrial waste heat, geothermal heat sources) to increase energy output. This could be done in at thermal energy storage tank such as135. The thermal energy on the surface may be stored in the form of hot water or molten salt. This may be useful for getting the inlet conditions to the point where the compressor/expander can be combined into a single unit. Additionally, thermal energy could be stored on the surface. The thermal energy stored at the surface or stored in the natural gas in the reservoir could come from cheap solar collectors120or wind farms125which generate electrical energy which may be converted into thermal energy, for example. The thermal energy could also come from the combustion/compression of the natural gas after it is produced from the well. Injecting a small amount of air into the natural gas stream during production and combusting it prior to the expander may be used to increase the inlet temperature to the expander. The amount of air may be sub-stoichiometric, meaning it does not fully combust the natural gas. That is, the amount of air is less than the natural gas such that only a portion of the natural gas may combust. This may also remove water vapor which may be present with the natural gas. In some embodiments, the expander may be connected to a turbine generator to generate electricity. In other embodiments the expander may be a turbine generator or a piston generator.

In some embodiments, the present disclosure uses depleted unconventional shale and tight sandstone dry gas wells that have been hydraulically fractured and repurposes them to store energy in the form of compressed natural gas rather than storing energy by utilizing salt dome caverns to store compressed air. The techniques of the present disclosure may be used capture thermal energy from the compression of the natural gas at elevated temperatures and use the subsurface formation and natural geothermal temperature gradient to store the thermal energy. Geothermal gradient is the rate of increase in temperature per unit of depth in the Earth; the geothermal gradient may vary based on location but averages 25-30° C./km (or approximately 15° F./1000 ft). This increase in temperature down the well may increase the temperature (i.e., the energy content) of the stored gas.

Natural gas is native to the reservoir and meets the original design parameters for the well, meaning it will not corrode the equipment. Sources and sinks for natural gas are generally available at the well site from natural gas collection and transmission pipelines.

In some embodiments, a minimum number of compression and expansion stages may be needed in the thermal energy storage process, which may reduce equipment cost and complexity. Natural gas may undergo smaller overall temperature changes because of the small expansion and compression ratios compared to the temperature changes of compressed air; air has an initial pressure approximately equivalent to the ambient, while natural gas as an initial pressure approximately equivalent to the collection pressure. This temperature stability may eliminate the need for inter-stage heat exchangers that conventional CAES with compressed air often requires for cooling (during compression) and heating (during expansion) of the natural gas. Natural gas exits the compressor at temperatures (˜150° C. or ˜300° F.) that can be safely injected via a pump into the shale reservoir. If the bottom-hole temperatures are roughly equivalent to the temperatures at which the natural gas exits the compressor due to the natural geothermal gradient or the heating of the reservoir by the injection of large quantities of compressed natural gas, the reservoir may be able to store the thermal energy carried by the natural gas indefinitely. That is, the natural geothermal gradient will not reduce the amount of energy stored in the compressed natural gas and may, in some embodiments, increase it. The ability of the reservoir to maintain and/or increase the temperature of the natural gas is a key component to maintaining the thermal energy potential of the gas. The reservoir returns the stored natural gas at temperatures sufficiently high that heating during expansion may not be required.

In some embodiments, the injection of the natural gas and removal of the natural gas may result in a loss of heat of the natural gas. That is, in some embodiments thermal energy losses may occur when the natural gas is injected into the well (using a pump) and/or reservoir and/or when the natural gas is removed from the well and/or reservoir. This may occur when the bottom-hole temperature is significantly lower than the temperature at which the natural gas exits the compressor. In such instances, it may be beneficial to insulate the well. As tubes are confined within the wellbore to

In some embodiments, the surface equipment required for utilizing compressed natural gas for thermal energy storage may be a single combined compressor/expander unit. That is, the same piece of equipment may perform the compression of the natural gas prior to injection into the well and perform expansion of the natural gas after production from the well.

FIG. 2illustrates a method200for thermal energy storage and/or enhanced oil recovery as described by some embodiments herein.

A first step201for storing thermal energy in a reservoir using a well which has been previously fractured is injection. During this step, the natural gas (or other thermal energy storage medium) may be routed through a compressor (e.g., the compressor105), where its pressure and temperature are increased. Then the natural gas may be injected down the well (e.g., well110) where it may enter the reservoir through fractures made by previous hydraulic fracturing (e.g., hydraulic fractures130).

A second step202for storing thermal energy in a reservoir using a well which has previously been fractured is storage. During this step, the natural gas may be stored (i.e., left) in the reservoir for a certain period of time. The time the natural gas remains in the reservoir may vary by the need for utilization of the thermal energy and/or the temperature restraints of the well (e.g., well110) and reservoir. The period of time may be a few hours, a single day, several days, a single week, several weeks, a single month, or several months.

A third step203for storing thermal energy in a reservoir using a well which has previously been fractured in production (also called removal). During this step, the natural gas may be removed from the reservoir through the well (e.g., well110) and used for energy generation. After being produced from the well110the natural gas may be routed through an expander (e.g., expander115). The expander115may be attached to a turbine generator, which may generate electricity from the reduction in heat and pressure of the natural gas.

The injection, storage, and production of the natural gas may stimulate the reservoir and horizontal well, resulting in an increased production of hydrocarbons emerging from the well. That is, production of hydrocarbons from the well and reservoir may occur when the natural gas is removed from the reservoir. Injecting natural gas into the reservoir through the well may decrease the viscosity of oil in the reservoir and may result in increased production from the well. In some instances, when the natural gas is removed from the well, oil may be removed as well. Then the oil and natural gas may be separated. The natural gas may continue to be used for thermal energy storage and/or energy generation, and the oil may be collected for later use.

In some instances, water may be produced from the reservoir when the natural gas is removed from the well. The permeability of a given fluid in rock is affected by the presence of other fluids in the rock. Relative permeability curves describe the permeability of a given phase (e.g., “gas”) as a function of liquid saturation. Even “dry gas” reservoirs contain water. At irreducible liquid saturations, significant volumes of liquid-phase water will not flow in the reservoir. However, at reservoir temperatures and pressures, natural gas is soluble in water and water is soluble in natural gas. Therefore, small volumes of water may be produced from methods described herein of injecting, storing, and producing natural gas from dry-gas shale reservoirs. Because the natural gas may include water in liquid form when removed from the well, the expander should be able to handle gas and liquid phases.

FIG. 3shows example calculations of natural gas outlet temperature and power input for a compressor (such as compressor105) as a function of inlet pressure according to the present disclosure and illustrates the advantages described herein. Natural gas may enter the compressor105from collection pipelines at approximately 50° F. and 1,000 psi and leave the compressor105at ˜275° F. and 4,000 psi. For calculation purposes this is similar to elevation conditions found in shale gas reservoirs, the performance would be similar if performed at lower conditions. If the natural gas is directly injected (without cooling), stored, and released through the expander (assuming expander inlet conditions identical to compressor exit conditions, star on right graphic), it exits the expander and is returned to collection pipelines at ˜100° F. and 1,000 psi. This temperature is high enough to avoid concerns about water droplets condensing and damaging the expander, eliminating the need for preheating. The result is a compressed gas energy storage process that increases round-trip efficiency by storing thermal energy in a subsurface reservoir, eliminates the need for heat exchangers, avoids carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by eliminating combustion of natural gas before the expander, and could lower costs further by combining the compressor and expander in a single unit. The solid lines inFIG. 3represent the temperature. The dashed lines inFIG. 3represent the power. The inlet temperature was calculated at 50° F. Lines305and310show an outlet pressure of 3000 psi and lines315and320show an outlet pressure of 4000 psi.

FIG. 4shows example calculations of natural gas outlet temperature and power output for expander as a function of inlet temperature.FIG. 4can also be used to determine flow rate requirements for a given power output. The compressor may require approximately 260 kW/kg/s of natural gas, and the expander may produce approximately 200 kW/kg/s for a round-trip efficiency of approximately 75%. Under these operating conditions, a 1-MW Present disclosure plant would require a natural gas flow rate of about 5 kg/s or 18 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd). Initial flow rates from unconventional shale gas wells are generally in the millions of scf/d, indicating that reservoirs may produce natural gas at these rates. Preliminary reservoir modeling confirmed that depleted unconventional dry gas reservoirs are capable of injection and production at similar flow rates during 6-hour charge/discharge cycles. The dashed lines inFIG. 4show the power and the solid lines show the temperature. Line405shows an outlet pressure of 500 psi, line410shows an outlet pressure of 1000 psi, line415shows an outlet pressure of 1000 psi, and line420shows an outlet pressure of 500 psi. The inlet pressure was assumed to be 4000 psi for these calculations.

Modeling runs were performed to analyze reservoir behavior during the operation of the methods described herein. The aim of the present disclosure is to allow for energy storage at both short-term (less than 24 hours) and long-term (over 30 days) intervals. A diurnal cycle of the present disclosure was modeled with 6 hours of natural gas injection (electricity storage), 6 hours of shutin (storage period), 6 hours of natural gas production (electricity generation), and 6 hours of shut in (recovery period). The goal of the diurnal energy storage cycles in this study and the present disclosure was to achieve steady-state operation of the reservoir cycles over time. The objectives included to maximize the natural gas flow rate (power generation capacity), minimize the well-head pressure difference between injection and production (round-trip efficiency), and achieve net-zero cumulative injection of natural gas over time (no leakage from the reservoir, and eliminate the need for purchasing natural gas). The first model was initialized at reservoir pressure and temperature. Next, natural gas was produced for one year to represent partial reservoir depletion. After a shutin period (usually 45 days), the diurnal energy storage cycle of the present disclosure was started by adjusting the well's flowing bottom-hole pressure (BHP). Flowing BHP was increased to a pre-determined level (above average reservoir pressure) and held constant during the injection phase, and it was decreased to a pre-determined level (below average reservoir pressure) and held constant during the production phase. The cycles were repeated for anywhere from one day to hundreds of days to observe if steady-state behavior was established.

In some embodiments, the reservoir behavior cycling may be controlled by differences between flowing pressures and average reservoir pressure, which is called pressure drive. Steady-state operation was defined as approximately net-zero natural gas injection over time. Stead-state operation could be achieved by setting the injection and production BHP's to the same value above and below (respectively) average reservoir pressure. For example, if average reservoir pressure was 2,000 psi, then steady-state operations could be achieved by setting the injection and production BHP to 2,500 psi and 1,500 psi, respectively.

FIG. 5shows the natural gas injection rate, production rate, and bottom-hole pressure during diurnal thermal energy storage cycling as described by some embodiments herein. The cycles shown inFIG. 5use an injection bottom-hole pressure of 3,500 psi and a production bottom-hole pressure of 3,000 psi. The average reservoir pressure at the start of the cycling was approximately 3,000 psi. Operating outside of the steady-state regime may cause an imbalance between the pressure drive for the injection and production periods. For example, operating with an injection-cycle pressure drive greater than the production-cycle pressure drive results in net injection of natural gas, in which the injection flow rate is greater than the production flow rate (FIG. 5). With continued cycles, the average reservoir pressure drifts towards the average of injection and production BHPs. With time, some embodiments described herein may eventually reach steady-state conditions. Line505shows the BHP, line510shows the gas injection rate, and line515shows the gas production rate. In some embodiments, operating with a larger production cycle pressure may result in net production of natural gas.

Modeling of some embodiments also showed that BHP may return to average reservoir pressure within hours. This may demonstrate that the hydraulically fractured shale reservoir does not actually hold pressure after small volumes of gas are injected. The natural gas moves farther out into the fractures and rock matrix as the BHP pressure equilibrates to average reservoir pressure. However, the model of some embodiments does show that this natural gas may be produced back, so that over the long-term, the pressure in the reservoir can be managed and maintained at a desired operation point. The energy storage cycle as described by some embodiments herein may then be designed and optimized to operate around average reservoir pressure. Reservoir performance is measured by its injectivity and productivity indices, which quantify how high a flow rate may be achieved for a given pressure drive. The higher this value, the lower of the pressure-loss penalty (decrease in round-trip efficiency) and the better-suited the reservoir for energy storage.

In some embodiments, the injection volume of natural gas may be a function of how long the natural gas is to be stored in the well. If the natural gas is to be stored in the well for a shorter period of time (i.e., less than one week), the amount of natural gas injected may be 1-5 MMscfd (million standard cubic feet per day). If the natural gas is to be stored in the well for a longer period of time (i.e., more than one month), the amount of natural gas injected may be 50-150 MMscfd. For intermediate storage (i.e., more than one week but less than one month), the amount of natural gas injected may be 10-20 MMscf. In some embodiments, multiple injections of natural gas may occur before the natural gas is removed from the well.

In some embodiments, the gas utilized for thermal energy storage and enhanced oil recovery may be a gas other than natural gas. For example, hydrogen, diesel, pure methane, ethane, butane, or even air may be used in place of natural gas. The substance injected into the well ideally would be capable of being compressed prior to injection and then expanded after being removed from the well.

Several scenarios were modeled to predict injection and production rates at average reservoir pressures. All simulations applied a consistent pressure drive, where bottom-hole injection pressures are 500 psia above average reservoir pressure reservoir pressure and bottom-hole production pressures are 500 psia below average reservoir pressure.

Some embodiments may include an injection cycle followed by a shutin period, a production cycle, and another shutin period. Short-term cycle times may be approximately 6 hours, while long-term cycle times may be approximately 90 days. Simulated rates for short- and long-term storage at depleted reservoir pressures equal to 2,000 psia are provided inFIGS. 6A, 6B, 7A, 7B, 8A, and 8B.

FIGS. 6A and 6Bshow simulated rates for short- and long-term storage at a depleted reservoir in the Marcellus basin. Short-term storage was simulated as an injection cycle time of approximately 6 hours, a first shutin time of approximately 6 hours, a production time of approximately 6 hours, and a second shutin time of approximately 6 hours. In some embodiments, the cycle time for short term storage could be longer, such as overnight and/or up to 24 hours. Long-term storage was simulated as an injection cycle of approximately 90 days, a first shutin time of approximately 90 days, a production time of approximately 90 days, and a second shutin time of approximately 90 days. In some embodiments, the cycle time for long-term storage could be less or more, such as 30 days, 60 days, and/or 120 days.FIG. 6Ashows simulated rates for short-term storage at a depleted reservoir in the Marcellus basin. Line605shows the injection gas rate and line610shows the production gas rate.FIG. 6Bshows simulated rates for long-term storage at a depleted reservoir in the Marcellus basin. Line615shows the injection gas rate and line620shows the production gas rate.

FIGS. 7A and 7Bshow simulated rates for short- and long-term storage at a depleted reservoir in the Haynesville basin. Short-term storage was simulated as an injection cycle time of approximately 6 hours, a first shutin time of approximately 6 hours, a production time of approximately 6 hours, and a second shutin time of approximately 6 hours. In some embodiments, the cycle time for short term storage could be longer, such as overnight and/or up to 24 hours. Long-term storage was simulated as an injection cycle of approximately 90 days, a first shutin time of approximately 90 days, a production time of approximately 90 days, and a second shutin time of approximately 90 days. In some embodiments, the cycle time for long-term storage could be less or more, such as 30 days, 60 days, and/or 120 days.FIG. 7Ashows simulated rates for short-term storage at a depleted reservoir in the Haynesville basin. Line705shows the injection gas rate and line710shows the production gas rate.FIG. 7Bshows the simulated rates for long-term storage at a depleted reservoir in the Haynesville basin. Line715shows in the injection gas rate and line720shows the production gas rate.

FIGS. 8A and 8Bshow simulated rates for short- and long-term storage at a depleted reservoir in the Barnett basin. Short-term storage was simulated as an injection cycle time of approximately 6 hours, a first shutin time of approximately 6 hours, a production time of approximately 6 hours, and a second shutin time of approximately 6 hours. In some embodiments, the cycle time for short term storage could be longer, such as overnight and/or up to 24 hours. Long-term storage was simulated as an injection cycle of approximately 90 days, a first shutin time of approximately 90 days, a production time of approximately 90 days, and a second shutin time of approximately 90 days. In some embodiments, the cycle time for long-term storage could be less or more, such as 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 120 days, or 180 days.FIG. 8Ashows simulated rates for short-term storage at a depleted reservoir in the Barnett basin. Line805shows the injection gas rate and line810shows the production gas rate.FIG. 8Bshows the simulated gas rates for long-term storage at a depleted reservoir in the Barnett basin. Line815shows the injection rate and line820shows the production gas rate.

The Marcellus model resulted in average gas flow rates of 1.5 MMscfd for the short-term storage cycle and 0.7 MMscfd for the long-term storage. The Barnett results were similar, with flow rates of 1.1 MMscfd and 0.6 MMscfd for the short- and long-term storage cycles, respectively. These results assume 10-12 fracture stages, which is typical for wells drilled around 2011, when data used in these simulations was collected. The trend has been to complete increasingly longer horizontal wells with 40-60 (or more) hydraulic fracture stages. Because flow rates scale linearly with the number of fracture stages, it is foreseeable that modern wells (i.e., wells built more recently than 2011) could sustain flow rates of ˜5 MMscfd for short-term storage cycles and ˜2 MMscfd for long-term storage cycles. The gas flow rates for the Haynesville model results were about a factor of 10 lower. The Haynesville reservoir is initially geopressured and it experiences compaction during depletion, which reduces reservoir permeability.

In some embodiments, the methods described herein may be used for enhanced oil recovery. Models indicate that 3-4 weeks of shutin time may increase liquid hydrocarbon recovery. During the production cycle, BHP is maintained above 6,000 psia to minimize liquid dropout in the reservoir. The production cycle may last 4-5 weeks before rates become negligible. Models indicate that gas-injection enhanced oil recovery as described by some embodiments herein could yield a greater than 40% increase in the amount of oil recovered per well.

The foregoing disclosure includes various examples set forth merely as illustration. The disclosed examples are not intended to be limiting. Modifications incorporating the spirit and substance of the described examples may occur to persons skilled in the art. These and other examples are within the scope of this disclosure and the following claims.