Flow control for geothermal well

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12000384-B2
Application number	US-202318100822-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 24, 2023
Priority date	Sep 29, 2021
Publication date	Jun 4, 2024
Grant date	Jun 4, 2024

Abstract

Systems and methods for harvesting geothermal energy use temperature-based flow control to optimize the extraction of thermal energy from a geothermal reservoir. In one example, a thermal transport fluid is flowed into a wellbore traversing a thermal reservoir of a formation. Flow of the thermal transport fluid into and out of the thermal reservoir is dynamically controlled at each of a plurality of injection and/or return locations in response to a downhole parameter such as temperature. For example, flow may be controlled so that the flow into the thermal reservoir is greater at the injection locations where the temperature is hotter and that the flow out of the thermal reservoir is greater at the return locations where the temperature is hotter. The thermal transport fluid produced from the return locations is then conveyed to surface to extra the thermal energy.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
flowing a thermal transport fluid from a surface location to a geothermal reservoir along an injection flow path of a wellbore;
flowing the thermal transport fluid into the geothermal reservoir at each of a plurality of injection locations along the injection flow path;
flowing the thermal transport fluid from the geothermal reservoir into a return flow path of the wellbore at each of a plurality of return locations;
flowing the thermal transport fluid along the return flow path back to surface;
extracting thermal energy from the thermal transport fluid from the return flow path before flowing the thermal transport fluid back into the injection flow path of the wellbore; and
dynamically controlling a flow of the thermal transport fluid into or out of the geothermal reservoir in response to one or more downhole parameters of the thermal transport fluid and/or of the geothermal reservoir,
wherein dynamically controlling the flow of the thermal transport fluid comprises:
sensing the one or more downhole parameters at a plurality of sensor locations along the wellbore, wherein each sensor location, of the plurality of sensor locations, is spaced far enough from a respective one of the plurality of injection locations or plurality of return locations that the flow does not directly affect the one or more downhole parameters; and
dynamically adjusting the flow of the thermal transport fluid, respectively, at the plurality of injection locations or the plurality of return locations in relation to the one or more downhole parameters.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of sensor locations are between 50 and 150 feet away, respectively, from the plurality of injection locations or the plurality of return locations.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more downhole parameters comprise a plurality of temperatures.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
sensing one or more of the downhole parameters with a fiber-optic sensor along a portion of the wellbore spanning one or both of the plurality of injection locations and the plurality of return locations.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
sensing the plurality of temperatures using discrete temperature sensors.

6. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
sensing the plurality of temperatures using a combination of discrete sensors and distributed sensors.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
automatically generating command signals, responsive to the one or more downhole parameters proximate to each of the plurality of injection locations or the plurality of return locations,
wherein the command signals individually control the flow of the thermal transport fluid, respectively, at the plurality of injection locations and/or the plurality of return locations.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
selectively overriding the automatically generated command signals with manual control signals at a surface of a wellsite to manually control the flow of the thermal transport fluid, respectively, at the plurality of injection locations and/or the plurality of return locations.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
pressure-isolating a plurality of zones along the wellbore, wherein each zone comprises two or more of the injection locations or two or more of the return locations;
within each zone, individually controlling the flow of the thermal transport fluid from the wellbore into the geothermal reservoir at each of the injection locations in that zone in response to the one or more downhole parameters; and
within each zone, individually controlling the flow of the thermal transport fluid from the geothermal reservoir into the wellbore at each of the return locations in that zone in response to the one or more downhole parameters.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more downhole parameters comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of:
temperature, pressure, volume, heat, velocity, isothermal changes, isobaric changes, isochoric changes, phase change, and acoustic vibration.

11. A geothermal energy extraction system, comprising:
a wellbore in fluid communication with a geothermal reservoir at a plurality of injection locations and/or a plurality of return locations;
a plurality of valves, wherein the plurality of valves is at least one selected from the group consisting of:
a plurality of injection valves at each injection location, respectively, for controlling a flow of a thermal transport fluid from the wellbore into the geothermal reservoir; and
a plurality of return valves at each return location, respectively, for controlling the flow of the thermal transport fluid from the geothermal reservoir into the wellbore,
wherein the plurality of valves control the flow in relation to one or more downhole parameters relative to the plurality of valves;

a sensing system comprising sensors for sensing the one or more downhole parameters at a plurality of sensor locations along the wellbore, each sensor location spaced far enough from a respective one of the plurality of valves that the flow through that valve does not directly affect the one or more downhole parameters;
a controller for dynamically adjusting the flow, respectively, at the plurality of injection locations or the plurality of return locations in relation to the one or more downhole parameters; and
a power generator to generate power from the thermal transport fluid received from the return locations.

12. The geothermal energy extraction system of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of sensor locations are between 50 and 150 feet away, respectively, from the plurality of injection locations or the plurality of return locations.

13. The geothermal energy extraction system of claim 11 , wherein the one or more downhole parameters comprise a plurality of temperatures.

14. The geothermal energy extraction system of claim 13 , wherein the sensors comprise discrete temperature sensors for sensing the plurality of temperatures.

15. The geothermal energy extraction system of claim 13 , wherein the sensors comprise one or more distributed temperature sensors for sensing the plurality of temperatures.

16. The geothermal energy extraction system of claim 13 , wherein the sensors comprise a combination of discrete and distributed sensors.

17. The geothermal energy extraction system of claim 11 , further comprising:
a tubing string disposed along the wellbore,
wherein an injection flow is defined along an interior of the tubing string in fluid communication with the plurality of injection valves, and
wherein a return flow is defined along an annulus between the wellbore and the tubing string in fluid communication with the plurality of return valves.

18. The geothermal energy extraction system of claim 11 , wherein the one or more downhole parameters comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of:
temperature, pressure, volume, heat, velocity, isothermal changes, isobaric changes, isochoric changes, phase change, and acoustic vibration.

19. The geothermal energy extraction system of claim 11 , further comprising:
a plurality of temperature sensors located in a vicinity of a valve of the plurality of valves,
wherein the plurality of temperature sensors is configured to obtain a first temperature gradient for the vicinity.

20. The geothermal energy extraction system of claim 19 ,
wherein the plurality of temperature sensors are further

Assignees

• Halliburton Energy Services Inc

Inventors

• Steele David Joe

Classifications

• F03G4/072 Primary

  Controlling or monitoring · CPC title

• E21B34/06

  in wells · CPC title

• E21B34/08

  responsive to flow or pressure of the fluid obtained (E21B34/10 takes precedence) · CPC title

• E21B43/12

  Methods or apparatus for controlling the flow of the obtained fluid to or in wells (E21B43/25 takes precedence; valve arrangements E21B34/00) · CPC title

• E21B43/17

  Interconnecting two or more wells by fracturing or otherwise attacking the formation ({E21B43/2405,} E21B43/247 take precedence) · CPC title