Science Direct
Summary
IDEA Member Nicholas Fry has contributed a chapter to the book, Utilization of Thermal Potential of Abandoned Wells, titled Mandaree, North Dakota: A case study on oil and gas well conversion to geothermal district heating systems for rural communities. The abstract is shown below.
The transition from fossil fuels to sustainable, renewable, green energy requires technological advances and adaptations to meet current and future energy needs. Oil well conversion for geothermal development, for both power generation and direct use, can meet many of these challenges in rural communities. The Williston Basin has the necessary geological setting and production infrastructure, though it lacks localized techno-economic analysis of system potentials. The techno-economic analysis in this proposal can serve as a template, benefitting rural communities of the Williston Basin in the following manner: alleviating energy poverty, supporting energy sovereignty, and providing jobs from the energy transition.
The proposed study site for this pilot project is in Mandaree, North Dakota, a rural town on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation that needs sustainable energy. There are more than 70 oil and gas wellheads within 3500 m of the town center, most exploiting Bakken shales at a depth greater than 3000 m. Data from previous injection well and wastewater disposal studies indicate that the Inyan Kara formation has a high permeability with a thermostratigraphy derived temperature of greater than 80°C, at a reservoir depth of 1550 m below the surface.
We focus on the direct use of hot water in the Inyan Kara formation. The system configuration uses two abandoned wells designed as a doublet (one injector and one producer), located 1400 m from town with a well spacing of 1250 m. Both wells are vertical, using existing 7″ (17.8 cm) casing with perforations, put in place at the Inyan Kara formation providing geothermal fluid flow at about 40–50 L s− 1. After meeting all in situ heat demand across Mandaree (4.1 MWthermal), the well output should provide more than 1 MWthermal in addition, generating heat for commercial greenhouse operations. This case study further explores the economic potential, technical considerations, and future work necessary to achieve the energetically enabled desires of the community.
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