Subsurface reservoirs play an important role in decarbonizing the energy sector, be it through geothermal
energy production or carbon capture and storage. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in
CO2-Plume Geothermal systems, which combine carbon sequestration with geothermal, using CO2 instead
of water as a subsurface heat and pressure energy carrier. Since CO2-Plume Geothermal systems are added
to full-scale CO2 Capture and Sequestration operations, all of the initially injected CO2 is ultimately stored.
CO2-Plume Geothermal, therefore constitutes of both CO2 Capture Utilization as well as Storage. This paper
assesses the huge technical potential of this technology, identifying a potentially highly relevant market for
CO2 equipment manufacturers and discusses the current research demand, based on the current state of the
art of CO2 equipment. Both temperature and pressure levels are significantly lower than CO2 turbine designs
investigated and proposed so far for other applications, such as waste heat recovery. For a depth of 5 km,
a typical one-stage radial turbine design might have a rotational speed of 23’000 rpm to 42’000 rpm and
an impeller diameter between 96 mm to 155 mm. Together with technology-specific requirements, due to
produced fluid impurities, it becomes evident that significant further development efforts are still necessary.
«
Subsurface reservoirs play an important role in decarbonizing the energy sector, be it through geothermal
energy production or carbon capture and storage. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in
CO2-Plume Geothermal systems, which combine carbon sequestration with geothermal, using CO2 instead
of water as a subsurface heat and pressure energy carrier. Since CO2-Plume Geothermal systems are added
to full-scale CO2 Capture and Sequestration operations, all of the initially in...
»