Disused oil wells could enhance compressed air storage
A new study has shown how geothermal energy in abandoned oil and gas wells can boost the efficiency of compressed air energy storage by nearly 10 per cent.
Developed by researchers at Penn State University, the geothermal-assisted compressed air energy storage (GA-CAES) system harnesses the existing infrastructure of abandoned oil and gas wells (AOGWs). Compressed air is pumped into the wells, where geothermal heat raises its temperature and compresses it further. Published in the Journal of Energy Storage, the study showed how geothermal energy could increase round-trip efficiency by 9.5 per cent.
“This improvement in efficiency can be a game changer to justify the economics of compressed-air energy storage projects,” said corresponding author Arash Dahi Taleghani, Professor of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering at Penn State.
“And on top of that, we could significantly avoid the upfront cost by using existing oil and gas wells that are no longer in production. This could be a win, win situation.”
Using numerical modelling simulations, the researchers found that placing CAES systems in abandoned oil and gas wells could raise the air temperature by 160°C. This led to an increase in pressure of 0.5MPa, which significantly boosted overall efficiency.
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