Monitoring geomechanical pumped storage in horizontal fluid-filled lenses with surface tiltmeters
Dane Kasperczyk
A * , Saeed Salimzadeh A , Scott Wright B and Henry Lau B
A
B
Dane Kasperczyk is a team leader and senior engineer in the Energy Resources group at CSIRO, he holds degrees from University of Melbourne in Civil Engineering and Science (Earth Sciences). For the past decade, he has worked on research and projects related to fracture mechanics modelling, hydraulic fracturing environmental risk probabilities and preconditioning for block cave, sublevel cave, and underground mines, and developing capability in subsurface monitoring using tiltmeters for use in mining, CO2 sequestration and subsurface energy storage. |
Dr Saeed Salimzadeh is a Senior Research Scientist at Subsurface Technologies team at CSIRO Energy, Clayton, Australia. He obtained his PhD in Geomechanics at University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney) in 2014, and since has been working in international research institutes at Imperial College London; DTU, Denmark; and CSIRO, Australia. Saeed is an expert in reservoir geomechanics and hydraulic fracturing, through numerical modelling, machine learning, and inversion. |
Scott Wright is currently Vice President of Operations at Quidnet Energy. Scott is an experienced project manager with expertise in renewable power and energy storage as well as petroleum engineering and geology. |
Henry Lau is a Project Manager at Quidnet Energy, focussing on technical and commercial aspects of novel technology development in energy storage. His work contributes to advancing the field of sustainable energy. Prior to Quidnet, he led a variety of complex projects across upstream, midstream, and downstream segments in the energy sector at Chevron and other major energy companies. He holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alberta and an MBA from the University of Cambridge. |
Abstract
Geomechanical Pumped Storage is a long duration energy storage technology that assists with integrating variable renewable energy sources into the electricity grid. The concept involves cycling fluid in artificial subsurface lenses. These lenses act as high-pressure reservoirs, storing and releasing pressurised fluid to drive a turbine and generate power. Similar in nature to traditional pumped storage hydropower, but lower cost, modular, and without the specific topography requirements. This work describes the surface monitoring and analysis from several lenses manufactured in the Eagle Ford Shale at Quidnet Energy’s Castilleja pilot storage site in Texas. Up to 12 high-precision tiltmeters were used to verify dip and orientation of the lens as well as provide a predictive map of the lens geometry and symmetry or asymmetry of the lens growth. The surface tiltmeters used as a diagnostic tool for lens creation have been proven to be useful. It provides operators with confidence and feedback on fundamental lens behaviour and response. These improvements will help scale the technology to commercially viable modular energy storage systems.
Keywords: electricity storage, Geomechanical Pumped Storage, long-duration energy storage, monitoring and verification, renewable energy, subsurface energy storage, subsurface monitoring, tiltmeters.
Dane Kasperczyk is a team leader and senior engineer in the Energy Resources group at CSIRO, he holds degrees from University of Melbourne in Civil Engineering and Science (Earth Sciences). For the past decade, he has worked on research and projects related to fracture mechanics modelling, hydraulic fracturing environmental risk probabilities and preconditioning for block cave, sublevel cave, and underground mines, and developing capability in subsurface monitoring using tiltmeters for use in mining, CO2 sequestration and subsurface energy storage. |
Dr Saeed Salimzadeh is a Senior Research Scientist at Subsurface Technologies team at CSIRO Energy, Clayton, Australia. He obtained his PhD in Geomechanics at University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney) in 2014, and since has been working in international research institutes at Imperial College London; DTU, Denmark; and CSIRO, Australia. Saeed is an expert in reservoir geomechanics and hydraulic fracturing, through numerical modelling, machine learning, and inversion. |
Scott Wright is currently Vice President of Operations at Quidnet Energy. Scott is an experienced project manager with expertise in renewable power and energy storage as well as petroleum engineering and geology. |
Henry Lau is a Project Manager at Quidnet Energy, focussing on technical and commercial aspects of novel technology development in energy storage. His work contributes to advancing the field of sustainable energy. Prior to Quidnet, he led a variety of complex projects across upstream, midstream, and downstream segments in the energy sector at Chevron and other major energy companies. He holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alberta and an MBA from the University of Cambridge. |
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