Benjamin Adams

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Adams

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Benjamin

ORCID

0000-0002-2293-9997

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Publications1 - 10 of 48

Next Level Geothermal Power Generation (NGP) – A new sCO2-based geothermal concept
Sudhoff, Robin; Glos, Stefan; Wechsung, Michael; et al. (2019)
Geothermal power generation with supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) has been object of numerous research studies over the past years. In comparison to conventional hydrothermal power plants, CO2-based geothermal systems exhibit several thermophysical, subsurface and power plant equipment, advantages. Essentially, a more effective geothermal heat extraction and less need for auxiliary pumping power, due to a much stronger thermosiphon effect, compared to water-based geothermal energy extraction can be highlighted. In this paper a thermodynamic evaluation of ‘Next Level Geothermal Power Generation’ (NGP) systems is provided. The impact of scaled geothermal cycles and of deviating geologic and ambient conditions, such as reservoir permeability, depth, temperature gradient and the cooling conditions, on both power output and costs is assessed. Furthermore, an improvement of the thermosiphon effect by an optimized cooling is demonstrated. Based on the thermodynamic simulations, capital costs and levelized costs of electricity (LCOE) are calculated and compared with other technologies. The results show that scaled NGP systems with optimized cooling can generate electricity at competitive LCOE.
Enhancing deep geo-resource utilization by advanced drilling technologies: CTMD and PPGD
Rossi, Edoardo; Adams, Benjamin; Vogler, Daniel; et al. (2020)
Abstract Volume 18th Swiss Geoscience Meeting
The value of bulk energy storage for reducing CO2 emissions and water requirements from regional electricity systems
Ogland-Hand, Jonathan D.; Bielicki, Jeffrey M.; Wang, Yaoping; et al. (2019)
Energy Conversion and Management
Using CO₂-Plume geothermal (CPG) energy technologies to support wind and solar power in renewable-heavy electricity systems
Van Brummen, Anna C.; Adams, Benjamin; Wu, Raphael; et al. (2022)
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition
CO₂-Plume Geothermal (CPG) technologies are geothermal power systems that use geologically stored CO₂ as the subsurface heat extraction fluid to generate renewable energy. CPG technologies can support variable wind and solar energy technologies by providing dispatchable power, while Flexible CPG (CPG-F) facilities can provide dispatchable power, energy storage, or both simultaneously. We present the first study investigating how CPG power plants and CPG-F facilities may operate as part of a renewable-heavy electricity system by integrating plant-level power plant models with systems-level optimization models. We use North Dakota, USA as a case study to demonstrate the potential of CPG to expand the geothermal resource base to locations not typically considered for geothermal power. We find that optimal system capacity for a solar-wind-CPG model can be up to 20 times greater than peak-demand. CPG-F facilities can reduce this modeled system capacity to just over 2 times peak demand by providing energy storage over both seasonal and short-term timescales. The operational flexibility of CPG-F facilities is further leveraged to bypass the ambient air temperature constraint of CPG power plants by storing energy at critical temperatures. Across all scenarios, a tax on CO₂ emissions, on the order of hundreds of dollars per tonne, is required to financially justify using renewable energy over natural-gas power plants. Our findings suggest that CPG and CPG-F technologies may play a valuable role in future renewable-heavy electricity systems, and we propose a few recommendations to further study its integration potential.
Minimum transmissivity and optimal well spacing and flow rate for high-temperature aquifer thermal energy storage
Birdsell, Daniel T.; Adams, Benjamin; Saar, Martin O. (2021)
Applied Energy
Wellbore heat transfer in CO2-based geothermal systems
Randolph, Jimmy B.; Adams, Benjamin; Kuehn, Thomas H.; et al. (2012)
Transactions / Geothermal Resources Council ~ Geothermal Resources Council Annual Meeting 2012 : (GRC 2012) : Geothermal: reliable, renewable, global. Vol. 1
Heat depletion in sedimentary basins and its effect on the design and electric power output of CO2 Plume Geothermal (CPG) systems
Adams, Benjamin; Vogler, Daniel; Kuehn, Thomas H.; et al. (2021)
Renewable Energy
CO2 Plume Geothermal (CPG) energy systems circulate geologically stored CO2 to extract geothermal heat from naturally permeable sedimentary basins. CPG systems can generate more electricity than brine systems in geologic reservoirs with moderate temperature and permeability. Here, we numerically simulate the temperature depletion of a sedimentary basin and find the corresponding CPG electricity generation variation over time. We find that for a given reservoir depth, temperature, thickness, permeability, and well configuration, an optimal well spacing provides the largest average electric generation over the reservoir lifetime. If wells are spaced closer than optimal, higher peak electricity is generated, but the reservoir heat depletes more quickly. If wells are spaced greater than optimal, reservoirs maintain heat longer but have higher resistance to flow and thus lower peak electricity is generated. Additionally, spacing the wells 10% greater than optimal affects electricity generation less than spacing wells 10% closer than optimal. Our simulations also show that for a 300 m thick reservoir, a 707 m well spacing provides consistent electricity over 50 years, whereas a 300 m well spacing yields large heat and electricity reductions over time. Finally, increasing injection or production well pipe diameters does not necessarily increase average electric generation.
Numerical Modeling of the Effects of Pore Characteristics on the Electric Breakdown of Rock for Plasma Pulse Geo Drilling
Ezzat, Mohamed; Adams, Benjamin; Saar, Martin O.; et al. (2022)
Energies
Drilling costs can be 80% of geothermal project investment, so decreasing these deep drilling costs substantially reduces overall project costs, contributing to less expensive geothermal electricity or heat generation. Plasma Pulse Geo Drilling (PPGD) is a contactless drilling technique that uses high-voltage pulses to fracture the rock without mechanical abrasion, which may reduce drilling costs by up to 90% of conventional mechanical rotary drilling costs. However, further development of PPGD requires a better understanding of the underlying fundamental physics, specifically the dielectric breakdown of rocks with pore fluids subjected to high-voltage pulses. This paper presents a numerical model to investigate the effects of the pore characteristics (i.e., pore fluid, shape, size, and pressure) on the occurrence of the local electric breakdown (i.e., plasma formation in the pore fluid) inside the granite pores and thus on PPGD efficiency. Investigated are: (i) two pore fluids, consisting of air (gas) or liquid water; (ii) three pore shapes, i.e., ellipses, circles, and squares; (iii) pore sizes ranging from 10 to 150 µm; (iv) pore pressures ranging from 0.1 to 2.5 MPa. The study shows how the investigated pore characteristics affect the local electric breakdown and, consequently, the PPGD process.
Feasibility of combining natural gas recovery and CO2-based geothermal in deep natural gas reservoirs
Ezekiel, Justin; Ebigbo, Anozie; Adams, Benjamin; et al. (2018)
Sensitivity of Reservoir and Operational Parameters on the Energy Extraction Performance of Combined CO2-EGR–CPG Systems
Ezekiel, Justin; Kumbhat, Diya; Ebigbo, Anozie; et al. (2021)
Energies
There is a potential for synergy effects in utilizing CO2 for both enhanced gas recovery (EGR) and geothermal energy extraction (CO2-plume geothermal, CPG) from natural gas reservoirs. In this study, we carried out reservoir simulations using TOUGH2 to evaluate the sensitivity of natural gas recovery, pressure buildup, and geothermal power generation performance of the combined CO2-EGR–CPG system to key reservoir and operational parameters. The reservoir parameters included horizontal permeability, permeability anisotropy, reservoir temperature, and pore-size-distribution index; while the operational parameters included wellbore diameter and ambient surface temperature. Using an example of a natural gas reservoir model, we also investigated the effects of different strategies of transitioning from the CO2-EGR stage to the CPG stage on the energy-recovery performance metrics and on the two-phase fluid-flow regime in the production well. The simulation results showed that overlapping the CO2-EGR and CPG stages, and having a relatively brief period of CO2 injection, but no production (which we called the CO2-plume establishment stage) achieved the best overall energy (natural gas and geothermal) recovery performance. Permeability anisotropy and reservoir temperature were the parameters that the natural gas recovery performance of the combined system was most sensitive to. The geothermal power generation performance was most sensitive to the reservoir temperature and the production wellbore diameter. The results of this study pave the way for future CPG-based geothermal power-generation optimization studies. For a CO2-EGR–CPG project, the results can be a guide in terms of the required accuracy of the reservoir parameters during exploration and data acquisition.

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Benjamin Adams

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