Smart-GeoWells: Smart technologies for optimal design, drilling, completion and management of geothermal wells

将开发一种新的产品，用于设计、钻井、完成和管理井系统，该系统包括许多侧向，增加了地热行业的储集层接触。基于常规和喷射(水和超临界二氧化碳)技术的混合钻井方法将与先进的数值模型一起使用，以帮助优化油井系统的部署和管理。该产品针对快速增长的地热行业，可以很容易地重新应用于石油/天然气生产，特别是中深层地热资源。这项工作的目标包括：(1)应用先进的钻井和完井技术，以提高井系建设的效率；(2)评估用于解决复杂井储系统中流体流动和热传输问题的新一代数值模型；(3)优化井设计和管理，以实现低成本生产；以及(4)将该产品部署到地热储进行现场试验。该项目的新颖性来自于新的钻井和完井技术与用于油井管理和生产的新颖计算方法的独特结合。中国目前的能源需求需要创新、经济高效和环境友好的解决方案。我们正在提出一种创新的多边井系统Smart-GeoWells来帮助应对这些挑战。这将用于开发更清洁、更实惠、本地化(建筑、村庄、城镇、城市)的供暖/热水和电力，利用几乎无限、可持续和安全的地热能。为了开发新的多分支井(可能有数百个分支井)，拟议的团队(每个成员都是各自领域的世界领先者)将应用他们的专业知识来测试和开发新的油井工程解决方案、混合钻井技术、先进的数值模拟以及优化的油井设计和管理方法。对于英国和中国团队来说，这将是通向长期合作的第一块踏脚石，旨在优化地热资源的开发，如果成功，将对能源行业产生巨大影响。然而，这项工作的范围也是巨大的，因此我们的初始产品(我们的目标是快速开发)将专注于地热热水生产，尽管所开发的技术可以作为地热发电和O&G生产的长期产品。XLTL(项目合作伙伴)的新的多边钻井概念，以及模拟这些大量分支(类似于鱼骨结构)的多相流体流动和热传递的新技术，将通过以下方式带来经济高效的钻井方式：a)加强与地热区的接触和连接；b)最大限度地减少环境损害，即地下水来源/周围农村的污染，以及c)生产井的优化控制/管理。在该项目期间，中石化将为现场试验提供地热场地、测试设备和专业工程师/技术人员(公司出资500万元人民币)，用于检验先进的钻井技术和验证预测软件。开发的Smart-GeoWells平台将提供给有兴趣的本地和其他公司/企业以及公共服务，并将通过加强知识和技术转让使它们受益。对当地和其他社区福利的长期影响是巨大的，既直接通过减少污染(水和空气)和气候变化影响，也间接通过经济影响。

A novel product will be developed for designing, drilling, completing and managing well systems that incorporate many laterals with increased reservoir contact for geothermal industry. A hybrid drilling approach, based on conventional and jetting (water and supercritical-CO2) technologies, will be employed along with advanced numerical models to help optimise the deployment and management of the well system. The product targets the fast-growing geothermal industry, and can be readily re-applied to oil/gas production, with a particular focus on intermediate-deep geothermal resources. Objectives of this work include: (1) application of advanced well drilling and completion technologies for more efficient well system construction; (2) evaluation of new-generation numerical models for solving fluid flow and heat transfer problems in complex well-reservoir systems, (3) optimisation of well design and management for cost-effective production, and (4) deployment of the product to geothermal reservoirs for field trials. The novelty of this project comes from the unique combination of new drilling and completion technologies with novel computational methodologies for well management and production.China's current energy demands require innovative, cost-effective and environment-friendly solutions. We are proposing an innovative multi-lateral well system Smart-GeoWells to help meet these challenges. This will be used to develop cleaner, more affordable, localised (building, village, town, city) heating/hot water and electricity, harnessing almost limitless, sustainable and secure geothermal energy. In order to develop the new multi-lateral wells (with potentially hundreds of laterals), the proposed team (each member a world-leader in their fields) will apply their specialised knowledge in testing and exploiting the new well engineering solutions, hybrid drilling technologies, advanced numerical modelling and optimal well design and management methods. For the UK and China teams, this will be the first stepping stone towards long-term collaboration, aiming at optimal exploitation of geothermal resources and if successful will have a massive impact on the energy sector. However, the scope of the work is also immense and thus our initial product (that we aim to develop rapidly) will be focussed on geothermal hot water production, although the developed technology can serve as a longer term product for geothermal electricity generation as well as O&G production. The new multi-lateral drilling concepts of XLTL (project partner) together with the novel techniques in modelling multiphase fluid flows and heat transfer through these large number of laterals (similar to the fishbone structure), will lead to economic and efficient ways of drilling financially-competitive multi-lateral wells through: a) enhanced contact and connectivity with geothermal regions; b) minimisation of environmental damage i.e. pollution of groundwater sources/surrounding countryside and c) optimal control/management of the production wells. During the project, Sinopec will provide geothermal sites, test equipment and specialised engineers/technicans for field trials (the company's funding contribution amounts to 5 million RMB) with which the advanced drilling techniques will be examined and the prediction software will be validated. The developed Smart-GeoWells platform will be made available to the interested local and other companies/businesses, as well as public services, and will also benefit them through enhanced knowledge and technology transfer. The longer-term implications on the welfare of the local and other communities are immense, both directly through reduced pollution (water and air) and climate change impacts and, indirectly, through economic impacts.