With the rise in energy demand and push for renewable energy, the use of clean and unconventional sources of energy is sought-after. Geothermal energy is vital in achieving the net-zero target set by various countries, as it is a clean and sustainable energy source. Nonetheless, drilling and achieving production from geothermal wells come with their challenges; these issues have to be addressed to maximize efficiency and ensure the long-term viability of geothermal energy as a key renewable resource.
One of the challenges is to resolve the issues related to the isolation tool during the stimulation operation. Currently, most packers follow API standard 11D1, which is mainly for oil and gas wells and does not represent the High-pressure High-temperature (HPHT) downhole geothermal condition. To address this industry-wide gap, the University of Oklahoma (OU) pioneered a groundbreaking testing facility, the world’s first large-scale HPHT testing setup specifically engineered for geothermal isolation tools. This setup can simulate the geothermal well condition and perform rigorous testing to assess the workability of the isolation tool. The feature of the novel geothermal setup consists of:
· Temperature up to 350°C - which is higher than the temperature of conventional oil or gas wells and depicts the condition of the downhole geothermal environment.
· Pressure up to 10,000 PSI - Replicate the geothermal reservoir condition with high pressure.
· Multiple cycles - The setup can go through multiple cycles of HPHT testing that can last from days to weeks.
· Precision and Real-time monitoring – The setup gathers the data with precision and captures real-time dynamic changes in various parameters during the test.
· V6 certification: The rating of the packer under V6 can be certified from this testing setup
This state-of-the-art facility has been used to test the packers that have to be installed in the UTAH FORGE project, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
