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Numerical simulation of electricity generation potential through five vertical wells at Fengshun geothermal field in China

Yuchao Zeng, Lixing Ding, Nengyou Wu, Fanling Kong, Elbek Ochilov, Haizhen Zhai

Read at the publisher Cite

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2024.119992

Highlights

  • Electric power rises to 1.49 MW over the first 32.5 years, then falls to 1.05 MW by year 60; pump power is 0.30–0.49 MW.
  • Energy efficiency of 4.55–2.12, and a reservoir impedance of 0.23–0.29 MPa/(kg/s).
  • Production temperature falls by 6.2% over the 60 years.

Keywords

  • Electricity generation
  • Five-vertical-well system
  • Fengshun geothermal field
  • Binary power plant
  • Geothermal exploitation

Summary

Fengshun was the first medium-low temperature geothermal field in China used to generate electricity. A 300 kW flash-steam unit, installed in 1985, ran for more than 30 years, but the plant was shut down in 2016 because of low efficiency and poor economics.

Using data from well ZK11, the authors propose one injection well in the centre and four production wells at the corners, with the hot water sent to a binary power plant. They simulate 60 years of operation with the TOUGH-EOS1 code, injecting water at 60 °C.

The permeability of the rock layers above and below the reservoir, the water production rate and the injection temperature all have a significant impact on the results.

Figures (2)

Diagram of a 1000 m square reservoir block with an injection well in the centre and four production wells at the corners, wellbore cross-sections, and a binary power plant schematic
Fig. 3. (a) The five-vertical-well system, (b) the grooves of the wellbore used for injection and production, and (c) a basic binary geothermal power plant. Source: Yuchao Zeng et al. (2024), © 2024 Elsevier Ltd.
Line chart: production temperature and electric power rise for about 32.5 years, then decline to year 60
Fig. 5. Production temperature and electric power over 60 years, with the increasing and declining stages. Source: Yuchao Zeng et al. (2024), © 2024 Elsevier Ltd.

How to cite

Yuchao Zeng, Lixing Ding, Nengyou Wu, Fanling Kong, Elbek Ochilov and Haizhen Zhai (2024). Numerical simulation of electricity generation potential through five vertical wells at Fengshun geothermal field in China. Renewable Energy, 222, 119992. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2024.119992

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