Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Summary
In 2017, Cecil-based CNX Resources Corp. plunged a drill bit two and a half miles into the earth under the small town of Marchard, Indiana County. From there, it extended a horizontal well bore along the Point Pleasant Formation and fracked it 34 times along the lateral.
The results were lackluster.
“Gas production did not meet expectations,” the company said.
But the test well yielded a lot of data, including that the temperature of the rock at the bottom of the well was 231 degrees Fahrenheit.
In the fall, CNX partnered with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Geological Survey, several other companies, Lehigh University and Idaho National Laboratory to pitch a geothermal pilot project in Marchard.
At a proposed budget of $37.6 million, the team would either repurpose an existing well on the Marchard well pad or drill a new one there. It would then circulate a liquid inside the well to pick up the heat — maybe water, or maybe carbon dioxide or some liquid hydrocarbon — then transfer the heat of the geothermal liquid to another fluid, heating it up until it gasifies and expands. The gas would spin a turbine and produce electricity — about 1 megawatt, according to the application submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy.
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