User:CustEng/Advanced Geothermal System

Advanced Geothermal System
Advanced geothermal systems (AGS) are approaches and technologies that extend deep geothermal energy production beyond traditional hydrothermal and enhanced geothermal systems (EGS). In general, advanced geothermal systems aim to extend the range of possible locations that can produce geothermal energy (as electricity or heat) and improve the efficiency of earth-powered energy production while minimizing or eliminating the associated risks of pollution & earthquakes.

AGS is seeing increasing interest as demand increases for 24/7 clean energy to combat climate change and geothermal energy becomes more attractive.

Large-scale Closed-Loop Geothermal
The most visible of these new approaches is the concept of using closed-loop systems to extract heat from deep underground, and the term AGS has become synonymous with “Closed-Loop Geothermal.”

According to Beckers and Johnston “Advanced geothermal systems (AGS), also called closed-loop geothermal systems, are geothermal systems in which a heat transfer fluid—e.g., water or CO2—circulates in a closed-loop configuration (i.e., without penetrating the reservoir) to extract heat from the subsurface and bring to the surface.”

Proponents of AGS highlight its potential to develop geothermal anywhere, without the need for in-situ fluids or reservoir permeability.(1)

AGS is an extension or a specific case of the concept of an Enhanced Geothermal System (B), which “generates geothermal electricity without the need for natural convective hydrothermal resources. Until recently, geothermal power systems have exploited only resources where naturally occurring heat, water, and rock permeability are sufficient to allow energy extraction. However, most of the geothermal energy within reach of conventional techniques is in dry and impermeable rock. EGS technologies enhance and/or create geothermal resources in this hot dry rock (HDR)...”(3)

An EGS system creates a sustainable loop in which the working fluid passes through the rock formation. AGS or closed-loop geothermal systems extend this principle by completely separating the working fluid flow from the surrounding rock formations, requiring neither natural convective resources or indeed permeability.

Other uses of the “closed-loop geothermal” term
The term “closed-loop geothermal" is also used to refer to ground-source heat pump systems that circulate fluid in a shallow subsurface closed system for heating and cooling. (2) Closed- loop geothermal systems are considered more “practical for small and spacious” locations as they do not rely on water sources to heat or cool the properties (2).''

Potential Challenges and Limitations of Closed-Loop Geothermal Systems
The fundamental difference between AGS and traditional (and EGS) systems also represents the biggest technical challenge. In general, closed-loop systems feature less surface area for heat transfer, since the working fluid is not passing through permeable rock but is constrained by the dimensions of the loop. For these new approaches to be viable, the energy generated must be able to support and justify the cost of implementing them. AGS research is therefore focused on increasing loop area, improving heat transfer through the use of different working fluids, and reducing the cost of drilling.

Relative to Traditional Hydrothermal Geothermal and EGS
AGS (Closed-loop) geothermal technologies seek to extend the range of possible locations that can produce geothermal energy(as electricity or heat) while avoiding side-effects like induced seismicity or impact to natural geothermal features.

Relative to Other Renewable Energy Sources
As nuclear, coal, and gas power plants are decommissioned, there is a need to replace them with new energy sources with similar high levels of availability.

All geothermal energy systems can operate as baseload sources of energy, with “average availabilities of 90% or higher, compared to about 75% for coal plants”

Types of closed-loop AGS
Various AGS designs have been proposed over the last several decades, including coaxial heat exchangers (“pipe-in-pipe” configurations in which the fluid is injected either in the center pipe or annulus) and U-loop type configurations (in which the fluid is injected in one well and flows through multiple laterals before being produced from a second well). (1)

Commercial Entities Developing Closed-Loop Technologies
(in alphabetical order)

Eavor Technologies
See main Eavor Technologies entry https://www.eavor.com/ Canadian company Eavor Technologies Inc. has developed a closed-loop system called the Eavor-Loop™, which uses a proprietary working fluid. It acts similarly to a vehicle radiator in that it circulates the proprietary fluid to remove heat from the earth. The potential techno-economic performance of the Eaver-Loop 2.0 has been modeled by Beckers and Johnson, and the results show that for at least some scenarios the technology will be commerically viable. "The levelized cost results indicate that LCOE values under $70/MWh can be obtained with the Eavor-Loop 2.0 if the laterals can be drilled under $400/m, the local geothermal gradient is relatively high at 60°C/km, and the discount rate is under 9%

Geothermic Solution
Geothermic Solution Inc. was formed to commercialize its patented, deep rock, high temperature GeoHeat™ Harvesting Technology in order to bring competitively priced, baseload, renewable energy to the world.

GreenFire Energy
https://www.greenfireenergy.com/ GreenFire Energy of Walnut Creek, CA is developing a closed-loop energy system called GreenFire’s GreenLoop™. "GreenLoop technology leverages existing geothermal wells, resources, and infrastructure which accelerates deployments, lowers costs, lowers risk, and results in high ROI. Existing geothermal wells are restored and then existing fields can be expanded." (5)

Sage Geosystems
https://www.sagegeosystems.com/ Sage Geosystems is unique among the advanced geothermal companies in that it is working on an end-to-end approach, working on improvements to drilling techniques, modeling and turbine design.

Supercritical Geothermal
Supercritical geothermal systems are very high-temperature geothermal systems that are located at depths near or below the brittle–ductile transition zone in the crust where the reservoir fluid is assumed to be in the supercritical state, that is for pure water, temperature and pressure are, respectively, in excess of 374 °C and 221 bar. These systems have garnered attention in recent years as a possible type of unconventional geothermal resource due to their very high enthalpy fluids. Supercritical conditions are often found at the roots of volcanic-hosted hydrothermal systems. More than 25 deep wells drilled in geothermal fields such as The Geysers, Salton Sea, and on Hawaii (USA), Kakkonda (Japan), Larderello (Italy), Krafla (Iceland), Los Humeros (Mexico), and Menengai (Kenya) have encountered temperatures in excess of 374 °C, and in some cases have encountered magma. Although fluid entries were documented for some of these wells, it remains an open question if permeability can be maintained at high enthalpy conditions.

Super Hot Rock Geothermal
Hot Rock Geothermal is generally covered as part of Enhanced Geothermal Systems ==== GeoX Energy