GeoSierra has adapted its multi-azimuth propped vertical sand plane technology, developed in a six (6) year joint R&D project with Halliburton, to be an effective method for sub-surface closed cycling of supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) in legacy oil and gas reservoirs to develop large scale, highly efficient, robust Carbon Energy Storage (CES) schemes to achieve zero carbon electric grids. The large scale, low cost, long duration and high efficiency per MWe stored, enables CES to have installed capacity sufficient to handle daily and seasonal fluctuations in electricity supply/demand.
Excess electricity generated from renewables is stored as potential energy, by pumping the sCO2 from the shallow reservoir down to the deep reservoir, in which the sCO2 has sufficient residence time to be heated to the deep reservoir temperature before being produced for electrical generation. A CES scheme installed in the legacy turbidite oil and gas reservoirs in Bakersfield, California would have an efficiency of 120%, i.e. it generates 20% more electric power than it stores from renewables. With 25GWe of CES installed in the Bakersfield turbidite reservoirs, the California electric grid would be carbon zero, and it could retire all the gas fired electrical generating capacity it utilizes both instate and imports from out of state. With additional solar and 35GWe of subsurface CES, California electric grid can supply the necessary power for all personal motor vehicles to be all electric. California currently has 14.2million personal motor vehicles that do 14,500miles/yr on average, emitting 90million tonnes per year of CO2 to the atmosphere and consuming 270million barrels of gasoline per year.
The turbidite reservoirs in Bakersfield have produced 15 billion barrels of oil to date, with enhanced gravity drainage by CES, an additional 20 billion barrels of oil can be produced, due to an increase of recovery from 35% to 70% of OOIP. The CES scheme in the Bakersfield turbidite reservoirs can store 2 billion tonnes of CO2, and have a peak electricty generating capacity of 25GWe. A CES proof of concept trial is planned for Spring, 2025 in the Bakersfield turbidite reservoirs.
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Multi-Azimuth Sand Plane Technology
The six (6) year joint R&D project between GeoSierra and Halliburton resulted in the following US Patents being awarded: 7,640,975; 7,640,982; 7,647,966; 7,814,978; 7,832,477; 7,918,269; 7,950,456; 8,122,953; 8,151,874; 8,863,840; 8,955,585; 10,119,356; and 10,704,367, of which both GeoSierra and Halliburton have equal rights of use in the field of petroleum recovery, with GeoSierra having exclusive rights outside of the field of use of petroleum recovery. Since 2021, GeoSierra has further developed the multi-azimuth technology, has sole exclusive rights to these developments, and filed patent applications to cover the knowhow of stimulating the multi-azimuth sand planes by an open hole completion tool down to depths of 10,000'.
United Kingdom Energy Plan
The British Energy Security Strategy of March, 2023, doesn’t mention large scale energy storage; basically the strategy is for additional wind power along with modular nuclear. How you can utilize renewables and achieve a zero carbon electric grid without large scale energy storage is beyond belief.
Currently the UK electric grid has 20GWe of gas fired turbines to match electrical supply to demand. The gas fired plants emit 45 million tonnes of CO2 per year directly to the atmosphere, and consume 140 million therms of natural gas per year. The UK currently has 11GWe of offshore wind power installed, and plans to have 50GWe of offshore wind power by 2030. If the UK installed 25GWe of subsurface CES in their offshore Sele turbidite oil and gas reservoirs in the central North Sea, the 20GWe of gas fired electrical generation plants could be retired, and no new nuclear plants would be required. The UK electric grid would be carbon zero, the offshore North Sea would be a viable enterprise for the next 50+ years, and store over 2 billions tonnes of CO2, and provide large scale, low cost, long duration and highly efficient energy storage for renewables.
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With additional wind power and 35GWe of subsurface CES, the UK could retire these gas fired turbines, not need any additional nuclear generated electrical plants, and the existing 6.5GWe nuclear plants could be retired at the end of their useful life; plus also the UK zero carbon electric grid could provide all of the electrical power for all-electric personal motor vehicles in the UK, being 39million vehicles averaging 7,400miles/yr, which currently emit 130million tonnes of CO2 per year and consume 380million barrels of gasoline per year.
Capital and operating costs of offshore CES are much greater than onshore, but with the vast petroleum reserves in place and significant enhanced oil revenue, offshore CES could extend the life of these fields by over fifty years. Recoverable hydrocarbons utilizing CES by gravity drainage are estimated to be 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Since only high permeable channel zones of the turbidite reservoirs have been targeted for oil production to date, the upside for future oil recovery in the Sele formation utilizing the multi-azimuth sand plane technology is considered to be much greater than the 10 billion barrel estimate.
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UK Onshore Shale Gas
A new review of shale fracking has been initiated by the UK BGS and NSTA, both of whom ignored GeoSierra's warnings of induced seismicity prior to the event at Preston New Road. The presence of slickenside bedding planes makes it physically impossible to fracture enhance the Bowland-Hodder shales by conventional hydraulic fracturing.
The recently released BGS Fracking Review, OR/22/050, doesn't even mention the slickenside bedding planes pervasive in the Bowland-Hodder shale, highlighting that the authors and reviewers have zero comprehension of their importance on the hydraulic fracturing process.
The public were recklessly exposed to unacceptable risks of induced seismicity, since the OGA (now the NSTA) and BGS did not impose limits on bottom hole injection pressures not to exceed overburden pressure on Cuadrilla’s fracking operations. Exceeding overburden pressure resulted in lifting the overburden and opening slickensided bedding planes for the fracking fluids to travel up to a kilometer away to a nearby fault.
ABOUT US
With innovative and patented technologies, we strive to enhance every day experiences, especially as it relates to the Earth, Energy and the Environment. Founded in 1997, our team of engineers, programmers, designers and marketers have worked tirelessly to bring GeoSierra to the forefront of the industry. The patented multi-azimuth sand plane technology, developed in a six (6) year joint R&D project between GeoSierra and Halliburton, is described in numerous SPE technical publications.
We will continue to work relentlessly to become the technological standard, providing big picture insights and solutions, especially as they relate to the Earth, Energy and the Environment. Get in touch to learn.
Multi-Azimuth Highly Permeable Sand Plane Technology developed in a six (6) year joint R&D project between GeoSierra and Halliburton.
OUR TECHNOLOGY
Environment: Permeable Reactive Barriers
GeoSierra's azimuth controlled sand plane technology has evolved over the years, and constructed kilometers of sub-surface PRBs at over thirty (30) sites in the USA. Rather than sand as the proppant, these PRBs consisted of zero valent iron as the reductant to reduce chlorinated solvents in groundwater to harmless end-products.
GeoSierra installed it first iron PRB in 1997, and since 2006 has licensed its PRB technology to Cascade Env/GeoSierra Env, who have constructed kilometers of iron PRBs at more than twenty (20) sites in the USA. QA/QC procedures during and after construction consisted of real time active resistivity monitoring, inclined thickness profiling, plus up and down gradient groundwater monitoring.
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Azimuth Control Technology:
GeoSierra's azimuth controlled sand plane completion technology has evolved over the years, from a simple direct push spade in 1993, to a chainsaw cutter of a PVC casing, 1995-7, a split cemented casing system, expanded in place and stimulated, 1997-present, to a multi-azimuth casing system cemented in place, with a down hole expansion and stimulation treatment tool, 2008-2014, jointly developed with Halliburton in a six (6) year joint R&D project, and finally to a multi-azimuth open hole stimulation tool, 2019-present, that dilates the formation, initiates the multi-azimuth pathways, stimulates and injects the multiple-azimuth planes with garnet sand proppant at depths greater than 3,000m, with the well conventionally completed with screens and liner.
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Enhanced Oil & Gas Recovery:
GeoSierra's multi-azimuth sand plane technology enables both enhanced oil and gas recovery and carbon energy storage of renewables, in low to moderate permeable turbidite reservoirs. SPE technical papers on oil and gas recovery using the multi-azimuth sand plane technology are shown in the slide show. The sand planes were installed by a multi-azimuth casing system cemented in place, with a down hole expansion and stimulation treatment tool, 2008-2014, jointly developed between GeoSierra and Halliburton in a six (6) year joint R&D project. The multi-azimuth sand planes enable high recoveries for both conventional and heavy oil, and highly efficient gas and condensate recoveries in tight sand reservoirs.
Carbon Energy Storage:
GeoSierra's multi-azimuth sand plane technology enables both enhanced oil and gas recovery and carbon energy storage of renewables, in low to moderate permeable turbidite reservoirs. The highly permeable sand planes enable the rapid injection/extraction flow rates of the sCO2 for the storage scheme to be economical. The sCO2 has unique density/pressure/temperature properties that make it an extremely highly efficient working fluid. sCO2 is a very strong solvent, thus the need for garnet sand proppant, which is inert to sCO2 at these pressures and temperatures. The CES scheme with sCO2 as the working fluid has a storage efficiency >100%, by cycling supercritical carbon dioxide between shallow and deep oil and gas reservoirs.
We provide free educational tools of our Carbon Energy Storage related technologies to any institution or businesses that are interested in our Climate Change Initiative:
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Zero Carbon Electric Grids
