AB-007

Electricity Generation Using Produced Brine from Active Oil & Gas Wells:
Study in Kalol Field, North Cambay Basin, Gujarat
Mudit Vajpayee, Ketul Khambhayata, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, India

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This paper was prepared for presentation at the 15 World Renewable Energy Congress held in Jakarta, Indonesia, 19-23 September 2016.

Abstract

Historically, the coproduced brine has been an inconvenience and a disposal issue for oilfield
operators and it is estimated that an average of 25 billion barrels of hot brine is produced
annually from oil and gas wells within the United States alone. This paper focuses on brine or
coproduced fluids (hot aqueous fluids produced during oil and gas production) as a potential
source for electricity generation, which could be generated from the thermal energy available
in the produced fluid using Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) power plants.
A study has been done over the feasibility of applying this process in Kalol Field, North
Cambay Basin. Two wells, KL-#A1 and KL-#A2 drilled in K-XII sand were selected based on
their high water-cut and bottomhole temperature (BHT), a pre-requisite for the application of
this technology. Reservoir temperature of K-XII sand is 820C at 1470m. Organic Rankine Cycle
Power Plant was proposed to utilise thermal energy of their well fluid to generate electricity.
Study and compilation of all possible factors that determine the efficiency of this plant was
carried out. ORC plant uses a closed cycle to generate electricity with R245fa
(Pentafluoropropane) as working fluid. Problems existing with the use of coproduced fluids
were identified and their solutions developed.
K-XII sand is the bottom-most pay-zone of the multi-layered Kalol oil field and has favourable
reservoir temperature and wells drilled in that have good geothermal gradient for application of
this technology. Flow rate of Co-produced hot water was 341 BOWPD, combined from the two
wells. From wellhead, the well fluid stream passes to Knock-Out Drum (KOD). After separation
through Knock-Out Drum and Filters the temperature of water was measured to be 67 0C,
decreasing a 10% from wellhead temperature of 75 0C and 350C was set as rejection
temperature of fluid, exiting the ORC plant. Inlet temperature of brine entering the ORC power
plant was around 650C. Using correlation developed by 2006 MIT study, cycle efficiency came
to be 3.75%. It was calculated around 3KW of electric power could be generated on-field using
above ORC plant, which could be used to offset on-field electricity consumption or can be
supplied to local grid. After success of initial phase, this technology could be up-scaled to
apply on entire Kalol field (from just 2 wells) and determine electricity generation potential of
entire Kalol field, which would be much higher and economical, by application of this
technology.
This can provide an attractive payback at oil and gas sites where cost of power leans on the
higher side, and where producers see the environmental value in electricity from waste heat,
either as a public relations benefit or acting on corporate social responsibility metrics.
Introduction
Water cut in many mature oil and gas fields is very high, up to almost 98%. The produced
water is usually considered a nuisance to oil and gas producers because it is required to
dispose or re-inject the water into reservoirs. The management of water from oil and gas
production is a direct cost to well-field operators and costs more than all other well services
combined [3]. But, some well fields produce enough water at high-enough temperatures to
produce electricity with an Organic Rankine cycle (ORC) or Binary power plant.
A large study was performed to reuse of existing wells for developing the expertise on
geothermal energy exploration in USA in State of Texas by Texas State Energy Conservation
Office (SECO) and Southern Methodist University’s Geothermal Laboratories (SMU) and
University of Texas at Permian Basin (UTPB) during 2004-07. A complete set of database of
subsurface and maps were developed by focusing on geothermal aspect of the sedimentary
basin. Based on the database, several projects were initiated in USA. DOE developed the first
low temperature geothermal demonstration unit in an oil field at the Rockey Mountain Oil field
testing Centre (RMOTC) in Wyoming. A test facility at the Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 3 in
the Teapot Dome Oilfield demonstrated the viability of power generation from coproduction [9].
The Organic Rankine Cycle power plant was designed to use 40,000 bbl/d of 170 °F (77 °C)
produced water to generate 180kW.
Geothermal power generation in India has not been exploited at all but significant efforts and
studies have been carried out in over twenty years. More attention has been paid to the power
generation by utilizing conventional geothermal resources and not hot fluids co-produced from
oil and gas reservoirs.
In this study, we provide an estimate of the coproduced-water-electricity-generation potential
using produced water from two wells in kalol field, producing at high flow rate and high
produced water temperature. This will demonstrate the ability to produce electricity from waste
heat in the produced water

Low Temperature Water Heat Recovery Technology

Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) generators (Figure 1) create pressure by boiling various
chemical working fluids (refrigerants) into a high-pressure gas. The gas expands in a one-way
system and turns an expander or high-speed turbine, which drives a generator that generates
electricity. When the generator is in use, produced water from the well enters a heat exchanger
where the hot water excites (pressurizes) the working fluid—a nonhazardous, nontoxic, and
non-flammable fluid—which drives the twin screw expander (the power block) to create
electricity. The twin screw expander has a rotational speed of 4,300 to 4,800 rev/min, one-
tenth of that of most turbo expanders. The robust screw allows wet vapour to travel through the
expander, thereby enabling access to lower temperature resources. After the working fluid
expands across the twin screw expander (spinning a generator) the low-pressure vapour must
be condensed to a liquid to begin the cycle again. Various methods of condensing can be
utilized; a cooling tower, a direct air cooled condenser, or even ground water can be used. The
condensing side of the ORC (for oil&gas applications) should preferentially utilize an air cooled
condenser, eliminating the extensive amount of fresh water usage and maintenance expenses
associated with operating a cooling tower.
Although the presence of residual oil and/or dissolved solids in the coproduced water could
require special operation considerations (e.g., restricting the exit temperature of the
coproduced fluid from the heat exchanger to prevent scaling or corrosion in the heat
exchanger, using chemical additives to prevent or reduce scaling, and/or a periodic cleaning of
the heat exchanger), after passing through the heat exchanger the coproduced water would be
managed and disposed of as normal, such as by reinjection into the subsurface.

Figure 1 - A schematic of the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) generator with a twin screw
expander. Courtesy of Dahlheim & Pike, [4]

ORC Generator Selection

Owing to the variation in brine temperatures, pressures, flow rate and chemical compositions, it
is crucial to use advanced design methods and apply optimization techniques for fine-tuning
plant design to exploit low- and medium-temperature co-produced geothermal resources
efficiently.

Rejection Temperature : It is necessary that the rejection temperature should be high enough to
avoid silica oversaturation, which could lead to silica scaling and serious fouling problems in
recovery heat exchangers, and in mineral deposition in pipes and valves [7]. Considering that
frequently low-enthalpy water has temperatures between 70 and 110 °C, it is difficult to use
rejection temperatures higher than 50-80 °C as too high rejection temperatures can make the
exploitation of such a system unprofitable.

Brine Consumption or Flow Rate : Brine consumption of the ORC Plant, which is strongly
dependent on the thermodynamic and chemical properties of the geofluid (brine), should lie in
the range from 120-200 GPM (7.6-12 l/s) for optimal working of evaporator and heat exchanger.
Lower flow rates have a lower ability to transfer heat from the hot source into the working fluid.
Power output from the ORC Plant decreases when the flow rate is reduced.

Ambient Temperature : The ability to condense the working fluid from a low pressure vapor to a
liquid is related to the ambient temperature. If the condensation and ambient temperatures are
too close, the increase of power consumption in the cooling system will severely reduce the net
power production because the higher thermodynamic performance of the recovery cycle is
negated by the increase in fan power requirements. When a water cooling source is used to
condense the working fluid, the water temperature is related to the ambient temperature, as it is
cooled with air through a cooling tower or radiator. When an air cooled condenser is used, the
air is used to directly condense the refrigerant.

Plant Efficiency: Efficiency depends on plant’s Overall Delta: T (ΔT) = TH – TC. The larger this
number, the higher the efficiency limit will be. Usually, it is difficult to decrease the TC, as this
is driven by environmental factors, such as air temperatures, cooling body temperatures, etc.
TH, on the other hand, is often subject to adjustment.

Available Heat/ Thermal Power: Available thermal power is the rate of BTU’s/hr or KWth that is
continuously produced by the waste heat source that is available to be consumed by the ORC
Plant. Available thermal power affects the performance of the ORC Generator because the
ORC Plant converts thermal power into electricity. Simply put, less thermal power equates to
less electrical output. Given a specific set of input conditions (flow rate, hot water temperature
and condensing temperature), the ORC Plant will have a specific “appetite” for the amount of
thermal power that it will consume to produce electrical output.

Coproduced Geothermal Resource Analysis – Kalol Field

Kalol field is a multi-layered reservoir having 11 hydrocarbon pay zones namely K-II to XII. It is
a depletion drive type reservoir and was put on production in 1966. Kalol-XII pay is the bottom
most layer of Kalol field. Average depth of the pay is 1470 meters (msl). Lithologically the pay
is consisting of medium to fine grained sandstone and siltstone and it shale out in the north,
east and south. K-XII reservoir has produced about 30% of OIIP with the help of water
injection. Water injection was started in 1972 for pressure maintenance and is now in mature
stage. Till Sept, 2014, a total 10.1 MMm3 cumulative water has been injected [8].
Kalol Field in Cambay Basin is a promising area for coproduction power development.
According to the Global Heat Flow Database of The International Heat Flow Commission,
favourable high heat flows (77mW/m2) occur in kalol. Also, kalol has a promising geothermal
gradient of 35-40°C /km.
The paper presents the results of the study of feasibility of electricity generation using
produced water from two wells drilled in K-XII sand of Kalol field in Ahmedabad Asset of
ONGC.

Reservoir and fluid properties

The brief details of the reservoir and fluid properties of K-XII pay are given in Figure-2.
Average thickness of the pay is around 4.6 meters. Average porosity is 16–20 % and
permeability varies from 20 mD to 700 mD.The gravity of the oil is 41°API with a viscosity
variation ranging from 0.38 –1.87 cP at reservoir conditions. It has a favourable reservoir
temperature of 82°C [8].
 Figure 2 - Reservoir and Fluid Properties of K-XII pay, Courtesy of Hanotia et.al, [8]

Temperature and Production Data

The geothermal gradient is about 350C/Km and the average formation temperature is around
820C. The liquid production from the wells, from wellhead passes to Knock-Out Drum (KOD)
situated in GGS.
The site chosen for this study was two producing oil wells, ONGC’s kalol well KL#A1 and
KL#A2. The wells have a high water cut and high produced water temperature. The wells
collectively produce 341 BOWPD from a depth of around 1400-1500 metre with gas lift system.
Near the wellhead, the hot water supply line can be bypassed through the ORC power plant in
a simple three way valve configuration to not to interfere with production. It would allow the
produced water to bypass the generator during downtime and not interfere with production.
The temperature of the produced water from these 2 wells combined, exiting the “knockout”
tank at 0.63 kg/s is calculated to be around 650C.
For a conservative estimate, the wellhead temperature of co-produced water was assumed to
be 740C, suffering a temperature loss of 10% from formation temperature of 820C.Further as
the well-fluid stream, from these 2 wells, passes to KOD and through micro-filters (from KOD
pipe will be laid and connected to the ORC Plant with the final connections made up with high
pressure hoses), to the inlet of ORC plant, the flowline temperature losses was again assumed
as 10%. Hence, the temperature of coproduced water, after separation, at the inlet of ORC
plant was estimated as 650C (=TH).
The site has an ambient temperature range of 60°F to 105°F. It clear that the water being
produced at approximately 65°C by the two wells, likely had sufficient heat and flow available
to operate an ORC Power Plant.

 FLOW RATE OF WELL – KL#A1

Qw1 = 0.81x13 = 10.53m3 / day (where 81% is its W/C and 13 m3 /day is total liquid production)

 FLOW RATE OF WELL – KL#A2

Qw2 = 0.91x48 = 43.68m3 / day (where 91% is its W/C and 48 m3 /day is total liquid production)

TOTAL FLOW RATE OF WATER FROM BOTH WELLS AFTER SEPERATION THROUGH KOD
= 43.68 + 10.53 m3 / day
= 54.21 m3 / day = 341BOWPD
 Table 1 – Operation Data for Kalol Field
Cumulative Liquid Production from 2 wells(m3/day) 61
Produced Water Flow Rate (m3/day) 54.21 = 341bbl/day
Working fluid R245fa
Ambient Temperature (0C) 20-40
0
Average Reservoir Temperature ( C) 82
0
Inlet water temperature ( C) (calculated) 65 (1490F)
Outlet water temperature (0C) (approximated) 35 (=Tc) (950F)

Power Output Analysis

 According to [11], the cycle net thermal efficiency can be found from the temperature of
the coproduced fluid using the correlation equation,

where T is inlet temperature in °C and the efficiency is in percent. So taking T= 65°C,

ὴth (cycle thermal efficiency) was calculated to be = 3.75%

Table 2 – Electric Power Calculation

 MIT [11] reported a different method for calculating the net electric power output of ORC
Power Plant.
After finding the cycle net thermal efficiency, the net power output can be calculated from the
geofluid (brine) inlet temperature, the geofluid outlet temperature, and the geofluid mass flow
rate. Results as presented in the form shown in Figure 3, where T2 is the geofluid temperature
leaving the plant. If one knows the inlet (T1) and outlet (T2) geofluid temperatures, the power
output (in kW) for a unit mass flow rate of one kg/s can be read from the graph. The total
power output can then be obtained simply by multiplying this by the actual mass flow rate in
kg/s. For example, a flow of 20 kg/s of a geofluid at 130°C that is discharged at 35°C can be
estimated to yield a power output of 800 kW (i.e., 40 kW/(kg/s) times 20 kg/s).
Figure 3 - Specific power output (in kW/(kg/s)) for low- to moderate-temperature geofluids as
a function of inlet (T1) and outlet temperatures (T2) shown in degrees Celsius (°C).

Now we use the same MIT [11] approach to estimate the electric power output using
coproduced water from concerned 2 wells in Kalol field.
- Inlet geofluid(brine) temperature = 65°C
- Oultet geofluid temperature = 35°C
- Geofluid Mass Flowrate = 0.63 kg/s
For outlet temperature = 35°C, we extrapolated the curve backwards, Figure 4, to find specific
power output for geofluid inlet temperature (T1) = 65°C

Figure 4 – Backward Extrapolated Curve of Specific Power Output for T2 = 35°C

Specific Power Output

100
90 y = 0.0042x2 - 0.3145x + 8.9455
Specific Power Output (kW/Kg/s)

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190
Geofluid Temperature, T1, (°C )
The Specific Power Output (for T1=65°C), according to above curve = 6.248 kW/kg/s.
Hence the Gross Electric Power Output using co-produced water for Kalol Field
= 6.248x0.63
= 3.9 kW

Challenges with Coproduced Fluids

1) Distributed Small Wells:

One obvious challenge is the small size and distributed nature of the wells. Typical oil
production does not lend itself to high volumes of water flows or the desired 250°F+
temperatures for traditional Organic Rankine Cycle technology. For this reason, large scale
power production at these heats and flows is not an option, and has limited the opportunities
for power generation at co-produced sites. Hence proper designing of ORC plants that function
with oilfield hot water is needed.

2) Geothermal Brine:
Water corrosion and mineral build-up comes naturally from geothermal brine due to the
medium pH often related to the high concentration of HCO 3. These corrosive fluids can cause
build-up and scaling of low-temperature minerals as wupatkiite, magnesiocopiapite and
alunogen etc. in many heat exchangers, and require constant heat exchanger cleaning that
takes extensive amounts of time, man power and down time. The use of a small metering
pump to add a scale inhibitor to the produced water before it enters the generator is a potential
solution.
.
3) Limitation of High Ambient Temperature:
One of the greatest challenges is the high ambient temperatures during summers using air
cooled condensing. The high ambient temperatures occasionally mixed with lower temperature
geothermal water or low flows can equate to a lower system ΔT, a critical parameter for
machine efficiency and power generation. The limited system ΔT reduces power output.
The high summer temperatures can reduce the temperature differential between the hot water
temperature and the condensing temperature so much that the equipment needs to be
programmed to shut down. These shutdowns can be avoided by using larger condensing fan
units. The larger condensers can add more KWh output by increasing the heat transfer surface
area for the refrigerant, thus allowing the temperature differential to increase.

Results and Discussion

This analysis covers Kalol Oilfield in Ahmedabad Asset, North Cambay Basin. Altogether, this
field has the potential to produce gross power output of 3.9 kW using an ORC power plant
outlet temperature of 35°C using produced water from 2 high W/C wells. This technology can
be up-scaled to apply on produced water from entire Kalol field (from just 2 wells) which would
result in much higher electricity generation and at the same time be economical.
Past studies [2] have shown that fields which are economic end up being those with only
moderate temperatures but prolific flow rates demonstrating that sufficient flow is just as, or
even more, important than reservoir temperature. It is observed that even lower producing
temperatures can be compensated for by higher production rates which explains why the
largest fields, and not necessarily the hottest, are the most economic for coproduction.
Acknowledgement
The authors are thankful to Electratherm whose original studies and demonstration provided the
base for this paper. The authors are grateful to ONGC management for using the data and
permission to publish this paper. Thanks are due to the authors of various research reports
referred during creation of this paper.

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