Available online at www sciencedirect.com Energy cust ScienceDirect Proced ia Proceia 1 ELSEVIER Bue (2017) 1327-1332 ‘wn elsevier com ocate/provedia 9th International Conference on Applied Energy, ICAE2017, -24 August 2017, Cardiff, UK A case study of an ORC geothermal power demonstration system under partial load conditions in Huabei Oilfield, China Kaiyong Hu*®, Jialing Zhu*”*, Wei Zhang*®, Xinli Lu*® Tianjin Geothermal Research end Training Center, Tanjin University, Tianjin 200072, PR China * Key Zabonctony of Eficent Colization of Law and Medium Grade Energy, Minis of Fuconion, Tian University, Tenyin 200072, PR China Abstract Liuibei reservoir of Huabei oilfield, a typical mature ol and gas field in China, now hus a water cut of 98% and the traditional “oil” field has become a “Water” field. To further exploit the oilfield, a SOOkW organie Rankine cycle using R245fa as the working uid was designed and set up to use the coproduced fluid. Experiments under partial load conditions indicate that itis a good choice to use a plate heat exchanger as the preheater to be responsible for part load of the evaporator In addition, dynamic test results show that the luctuating of the geothermal water strongly affects the stability of the system's performances, so attention should be paid on the stability of the geothermal water flow rate. Compared with the design generating capacity, the system did not get as much electricity as expected. Besides, exergy comparison analysis between design and partial load condition reveals that the intermediate heat exchanger (IHIE) used to transfer heat ftom geothermal water to hot water becomes the main obstacle in view of exergy utilization ratio. Therefore, methods should be adopted to decrease the heat transfer temperature difference between the geothermal water and hot water. to reduce the exeray loss of the system, © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd Peerreview under responsibilty of the scientific committee of the 9th International Conference on Applied Energy Keywords: Orgone Rankine evele; Pastal lead couditioas: Geetlermal water, Pwwet sentation; Oilfield 1. Introduction Recently, people statt to focus on the oil wells, including abandoned oil wells, and try to integrate geothermal power generation with oil recovery [1.2|. In this way, the drilling costs can be saved, and geothermal power generation will have broad market, considering the economical view. Tn addition, many oilfields have abundant low and medium temperature geothermal resources which can be converted into electricity by organic Rankine cycle (ORC) technology [3] * Comesponding author. Tel: #86402 Email across: auil@tined.en 7401823 1876-6102 © 2017 Tie Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd, Peor-oview under responsibility of the scientific commritiew of the th Tnternational Conference on Applied Enongy 10,1016) jexypro 2017.12.5151328 Koaivong Hu et al./ Energy Procedia 342 (2017) 1327-1332 ‘Nomenclature m mass flow rate (kgs) pl partial load W power (kW) ‘Acronyms 1 efficiency ORC organic Rankine eyele Subscripts GWPLR geothermal water partial load ratio de design EGR Electricity generated ratil sys system EGPU electricity generated per unit geothermal fluid pl__partial load A number of researchers have studied the ORC system associated with oil and gas reservoirs. ‘The first oilfield ORC system manufactured by Ormat Nevada Inc. run at the Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center located in Wyming, United States, using an average of 26kg’s of 92°C coproduced fluid to generate an average net power output of 216 KW (+), A nominal capacity of 400 kW ORC system with screw expander was constructed at Huabei Oilfield, China, in early April 2011, As the first oilfield ORC system in China, this unit can produce 1.18 kWh electricity per ton coproduced fluid with 110°C|5), Bu et al (6) demonstrated the feasibility of exploiting geothermal energy from existing abandoned oil and gas wells through establishing the heat exchange equations between fluid and rocks. Results showed that the temperature of the extracted hot water drops from 129.88'C to 127.92°C after ten years of operation, which phenomenon was also found by Cheng et al [7]. The performance of a system using a secondary fluid gaining the geothermal energy from the abandoned oil wells was investigated by Davis et al |S), considering the local geothermal gradients and typical well depths and pipe diameters. The results indicated that the ‘maximum power of the system depends on the temperature of the well bottom and the injection pressure. ‘The Huabei Oilfield Buried Hill reservoirs, first exploited in 1975, distribute in Raoyang, Baxian, Langeu, and Shensu subsages [9], Liubei reservoir, exploited since 1978, has 27 wells in total (up to 2009), and 6 wells ate available for production now. The current status indicates that the oil production has reached 99.7% of the total reserves, and most wells have been abandoned for no oil producing. In addition, the water cut has been up to 98%, and the traditional “oil” field has become a “water” field (1. 11}. From the references reviewed above, it is an available method to utilize the coproduced fluid in oilfield to produce electricity. Most studies are cattied out by establishing mathematical model under many assumptions, however, which lacks practical guidance for the real design and operation. In this paper, an ORC geothermal power unit was constructed based on the coproduced geothermal water conditions supplied by Huabei Oitield in 2011. Since the oil production policy was adjusted and the number of running wells decreased, the available geothermal water flow for the ORC system was not sufficient, compared to the design condition. Therefore, the ORC system just operated under partial load conditions, and the corresponding system performances were investigated 2. Description of the ORC system Fig.l shows the schematic diagram and photos of the ORC system. It is composed of four subsystems: geothermal water subsystem, intermediate heat exchanger (THE) subsystem, working fluid circulation subsystem, and cooling water circulation subsystem, The geothermal water subsystem obtains geothermal water from the separator and discharged it to the heat tracing exchanger. Since the geothermal water includes crude oil and some impurities, it cannot enter into the evaporator and preheater directly. The intermediate heat exchanger subsystem is designed to convert heat from geothermal water to clean water Which enters into the evaporator and preheater to heat the working uid After absorbing heat and boiling in the evaporator, the high pressure working fluid vapor flows into the turbine to drive a generator for electricity. The exhaust low pressute vapor exits the turbine and is led to the condenser where it is liquefied by the cooling water from a cooling tower. The liquid at the condenser outlet is pumped to the preheater and finally flows into the evaporator, forming a circulation.Kaiyong Hu etal / Energy Pracedia 142 (2017) 1427-1332 1329 Fig. (a) the schematic diagram of the ORC system; (b) the photos of the ORC system 3. Methodology 3.1 Spstem design and working fluid selection ‘The ORC system is designed based on the following conditions: the temperature and flow rate of the coproduced Aluid are 110°C and 2501/h, respectively; the temperature of the cooling water is 20°C ‘The working fluid selection is an important decision for the ORC system. The factors considered in the working selection are appropriate thermodynamic characteristics, stability, non-fouling, non-toxic, non-corrosive, non- flammability, and environmental safety (ODP, GWP) [12,13]. Detailed investigations have been done by many researchers [14,15]. Based on the results from the published literatures, in this project, R245fa is selected as the working fluid for better thermal efficiency, environmental and safety considerations. ‘Table 1 shows the parameter s used in the system design. Tribe t Parmnoters used in the system design, Parameiers Vale Parameters Vale Ambient emperarre (C) 200 senluopic efficiency ofthe tabine (% 76 Inet temperature of geothermal water CC) 1100 Mechmuical efcieney (2) 96 ‘Outlet temperanue of geothermal water (C) 85.7 Efficiency of the generator (92) a Inlet temperature of cooling water ((C) 20.0 Efficiency ofthe feeding pump (99) 70 Flow rate of geothermal water (an) «280 Fficieney ofthe water circulating pumps (98) 78 Mass flowrate of wouking fu (UA) 19h point temperature difference (C) 60 Evaporation pressure (MPa) 1.819 Pressure drop in evaporaer‘condenser CMa) 0.050 Supetheat at evaporator cutlet (0) 60 ‘ORC themual efficiency (9) 80 Condensation pressure (MPa) 01st [Net power outpat (kW) 500 3.2 Performance indicators A suitable set of performance indicators was applied to assess the system performance under partial load conditions,130 Kaiyong Hu etal / Energy Pracedia 142 (2017) 1427-1332 During operating period, since the geothermal water flow rate cannot meet the design requirement, the ORC system Was investigated under partial load conditions, A parameter named geothermal water partial load ratio (GWPLR) is defined to indicate the geothermal water condition GavpLR= Mee wD de Based on the power output under full load condition, the electricity generated ratio (EGR) under partial load dasatnione iy exjprenacd a © EGR =" Th ey A signiticant indicator for geothermal power systems is the electricity generated per unit geothermal fluid (EGPU), defined as the electricity generated by Iton geothermal fluid: EGPU =" "*?! @ Mee pi 4. Results and discussion 4.1 Dynamic response of the system under partial load conditions Fig.2 shows the transient responses of the ORC system at December 25, 2015. It can be seen that the geothermal water temperature is relatively stable during running period, with a maximum value 105°C and a minimum value 102'C. In addition, the hot water flow rate fluctuates regularly between 132 and 156 m3/h, However, the hot water temperature, the pressure at inlet and outlet of evaporator and turbine, the geothermal water flow rate, and the power output have two large fluctuations, respectively, which are caused by the unstable geothermal water flow rate. Thus, as the heat source of the ORC system, the stability of the geothermal water flow rate is significant for most parameters’ stability in the system, ne » : oe Fig, Dynamic responses of the ORC system, (a) system perfomance; (0) power performance 4.2 Performance indicators The system performance indicators under different partial load conditions are shown in Table 4. The net power output, electricity generated ratio, and thermal efficiency are inereasing with increasing GWPLR, but the inerement ranges of the above indicators are not consistent. When the GWPLR is 50%, the net power output, electricityKoaivong Hu et al./ Energy Procedia 342 (2017) 1327-1332 1331 generated ratio, and thermal efliciency are 150 KW, 30%, and 5.35%, respectively, In contrast, the electricity generated per unit geothermal fluid decreases ay GWPLR increases. Due to the fact that most of the components in the system, such as turbine and generator, have not operated under design condition, the system did not gener te as much electricity as expected. Table 2 Performance indicators under pasta lead conditions 30% 30% Te 30% 0 Tz 150 EGR (0) 18 2 30 EGPU (ow it) ie 156 hie Nm) 422 490 509 535 4.3 Exergy analysis Fig.3 shows the percentage of exergy loss in each component of ORC system under design condition (GWPLR=100%) and partial load condition (GWPLR=43%). It can be seen that the exergy loss ratio of cach component varies under different geothermal water conditions. When the system operates under design condition, the maximum exergy loss is contributed by the evaporator. However, when GWPLR is 43%, the THE becomes the maximum exergy loss component. It can be explained that the decrease of the geothermal water leads to increase of the heat transfer temperature difference in the IHE, which is the main factor causing high exergy loss. Therefore, in order to optimize the ORC system in next step, methods should be adopted to decrease the heat transfer temperature difference in the heat exchangers, especially the IHE, which is used to transfer heat from the geothermal energy to the ORC system es 222% b 67% 237% we Eveporstor 482% Turtine Condonsor 05% Eo Pump Fig 3 Percentage ofthe exergy loss of each component a: GWPLR=100%%, b: GWPLR=13% owPLaasa% 5. Conclusions An ORC system using coproduced geothermal water in Huabei Oilfield, China, was set up to generate electricity integrated with oil recovery and heat tracing of oil transportation, Since the oil production policy was adjusted and the number of running wells decreased, the ORC system just operated under partial load conditions, and the corresponding system performances were investigated, The main conchusions can be summarized as follows (J) With GWPLR increasing, the heat transfer coefficient in the evaporator or condenser increases firstly, and then keeps steady. Si the preheater can be responsible for the heat transfer process before vaporization, it is a good choice to installa plate exchanger as the preheater belore the evaporator. Therefore the area and volume of the evaporator can be decreased. (2) The dynamic operation results show that the steady of the geothermal water flow rate is significant for the ity of the system, The fluctuation of the geothermal water directly affects the pertormances of the ORC system1882 1332 Kaivong Hu etal / Energy Pracedia 142 (2017) 13 (3) Thermal analysis results shows that the net power output, electricity generated ratio, and thermal efficiency are increasing with increasing GWPLR, however, the increment ranges of the above indicators are not consistent, due to the fact that most of the components in the system, such as turbine and generator, have not operated under design condition. (4) Exergetic analysis indicates that more than 90% of the total exergy loss is contributed by the heat exchangers. Under partial load conditions, the THE becomes the main obstacle in term of exergy utilization ratio. Therefore, metiiods should be adopted to reduce the heat transfer temperature difference in the IE, in order to increase the available utilization of the geothermal energy. Acknowledgments The authors gratefully acknowledge the support provided by Tianjin Municipal Natural Science Foundation (No. 153CZDIC32000) References [1] 117, Zw, Zhang W. Cascade utilization of low temperature geothermal water ia oilfield combined power genetation, gathering heat tracing and oil esovery. Applied Theemal Engineering 40.7(2012) 27-35, [2] Alimonti C, Soldo E. Study of geothermal power gensration from a very deep oll well with a wellbore eat exchanger. Renewable Ene 86(2016):292-301. [3] Wight NM, Bennett NS. Geothermal energy fom abandoned ol acl gas wells using water in combination with a closed wellbore. Applied ‘Thermal Engineering 89(2015):908-915, [4] Reubardt T, Johnson LA. Systems for electrical power fom coproduced and low temperature geothenmal resources, in: Proceeding, Titty. 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