Abstract

Compressed air energy storage (CAES) stores energy as compressed air in underground formations, typically salt dome caverns. When electricity demand grows, the compressed air is released through a turbine to produce electricity. CAES in the US is limited to one plant built in 1991, due in part to the inherent risk and uncertainty of developing subsurface storage reservoirs. As an alternative to CAES, we propose using some of the hundreds of thousands of hydraulically fractured horizontal wells to store energy as compressed natural gas in unconventional shale reservoirs. To store energy, produced or “sales” natural gas is injected back into the formation using excess electricity and is later produced through an expander to generate electricity. To evaluate this concept, we performed numerical simulations of cyclic natural gas injection into unconventional shale reservoirs using cmg-gem commercial reservoir modeling software. We tested short-term (diurnal) and long-term (seasonal) energy storage potential by modeling well injection and production gas flowrates as a function of bottom-hole pressure. First, we developed a conceptual model of a single fracture stage in an unconventional shale reservoir to characterize reservoir behavior during cyclic injection and production. Next, we modeled cyclic injection in the Marcellus shale gas play using published data. Results indicate that Marcellus unconventional shale reservoirs could support both short- and long-term energy storage at capacities of 100–1000 kWe per well. The results indicate that energy storage in unconventional shale gas wells may be feasible and warrants further investigation.

References

1.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF)
,
2019
,
Long-Term Energy Storage Outlook
. https://www.bnef.com/core/insights/21113,
Accessed July 31, 2019
.
2.
Denholm
,
P.
,
O’Connell
,
M.
,
Brinkman
,
G.
, and
Jorgenson
,
J.
,
2015
,
Overgeneration From Solar Energy in California: A Field Guide to the Duck Chart
,
Report No. NREL/TP-6A20-65023
,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
,
Golden, CO
. https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy16osti/65023.pdf.
3.
Koohi-Fayegh
,
S.
, and
Rosen
,
M. A.
,
2020
, “
A Review of Energy Storage Types, Applications and Recent Developments
,”
J. Energy Storage
,
27
. 10.1016/j.est.2019.101047
4.
Mongird
,
K.
,
Viswanathan
,
V. V.
,
Balducci
,
P. J.
,
Alam
,
M. J. E.
,
Fotedar
,
V.
,
Koritarov
,
V. S.
, and
Hadjerioua
,
B.
,
2019
,
Energy Storage Technology and Cost Characterization Report
, Report No. PNNL-28866,
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL)
,
Richland, WA
. https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1573487.
5.
Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables/U.S. Energy Storage Association
,
2020
,
U.S. Energy Storage Monitor 2019 Year in Review
,
Wood Mackenzie
,
Washington, DC
. https://www.woodmac.com/reports/power-markets-us-energy-storage-monitor-2019-year-inreview-393355/
6.
Succar
,
S.
, and
Williams
,
R. H.
,
2008
, “
Compressed Air Energy Storage: Theory, Resources, and Applications for Wind Power
,”
Princeton Environmental Institute Report
,
8
, p.
81
. https://acee.princeton.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/SuccarWilliams_PEI_CAES_2008April8.pdf.
7.
Computer Modeling Group, LTD
,
2017
,
CMG-GEM 2017.11 and CMG-WINPROP
,
Computer Modeling Group, LTD
,
Calgary, Alberta
, https://www.cmgl.ca/.
8.
U.S. Energy Information Administration
,
2016
,
Trends in U.S. Oil and Natural Gas Upstream Costs
,
U.S. Department of Energy
,
Washington, DC
. https://www.eia.gov/analysis/studies/drilling/pdf/upstream.pdf.
9.
U.S. Energy Information Administration
,
2018
,
The Distribution of U.S. Oil and Natural Gas Wells by Production Rate
,
U.S. Department of Energy
,
Washington, DC
. https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/wells/pdf/full_report.pdf.
10.
Lake
,
L. W.
,
Martin
,
J.
,
Ramsey
,
J. D.
, and
Titman
,
S.
,
2013
, “
A Primer on the Economics of Shale Gas Production Just How Cheap Is Shale Gas?
,”
J. Appl. Corporate Finance
,
25
(
4
), pp.
87
96
. 10.1111/jacf.12045
11.
Wachtmeister
,
H.
,
Lund
,
L.
,
Aleklett
,
K.
, and
Höök
,
M.
,
2017
, “
Production Decline Curves of Tight Oil Wells in Eagle Ford Shale
,”
Nat. Resour. Res.
,
26
(
3
), pp.
365
377
. 10.1007/s11053-016-9323-2
12.
Hughes
,
D. J.
,
2014
,
Drilling Deeper: A Reality Check on U.S. Government Forecasts for a Lasting Tight Oil & Shale Gas Boom
,
Post Carbon Institute
,
Santa Rosa, CA
. https://www.postcarbon.org/publications/drillingdeeper/
13.
Du
,
F.
, and
Nojabaei
,
B.
,
2019
, “
A Review of Gas Injection in Shale Reservoirs: Enhanced Oil/Gas Recovery Approaches and Greenhouse Gas Control
,”
Energies
,
12
(
12
), p.
2355
. 10.3390/en12122355
14.
Jacobs
,
T.
,
2019
, “
Shale EOR Delivers, So Why Won’t the Sector Go Big?
,”
J. Petrol. Technol.
,
71
(
05
), pp.
37
41
. 10.2118/0519-0037-JPT
15.
Atan
,
S.
,
Ajayi
,
A.
,
Honarpour
,
M.
,
Turek
,
E.
,
Dillenbeck
,
E.
,
Mock
,
C.
,
Ahmadi
,
M.
, and
Pereira
,
C.
,
2018
, “
The Viability of Gas Injection EOR in Eagle Ford Shale Reservoirs
,”
SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition
,
Dallas, TX
,
Sept. 24–26
. https://www.onepetro.org/conference-paper/SPE-191673-MS
16.
Lemmon
,
E. W.
,
Bell
,
I. H.
,
Huber
,
M. L.
, and
McLinden
,
M. O.
,
2018
,
NIST Standard Reference Database 23: Reference Fluid Thermodynamic and Transport Properties-REFPROP, Version 10.0
,
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Standard Reference Data Program
,
Gaithersburg, MD
.
17.
Luo
,
X.
,
Wang
,
J.
,
Dooner
,
M.
, and
Clarke
,
J.
,
2015
, “
Overview of Current Development in Electrical Energy Storage Technologies and the Application Potential in Power System Operation
,”
Appl. Energy
,
137
, pp.
511
536
. 10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.09.081
18.
Budt
,
M.
,
Wolf
,
D.
,
Span
,
R.
, and
Yan
,
J.
,
2016
, “
A Review on Compressed Air Energy Storage: Basic Principles, Past Milestones and Recent Developments
,”
Appl. Energy
,
170
, pp.
250
268
. 10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.02.108
19.
Gallegos
,
T. J.
, and
Varela
,
B. A.
,
2015
,
Trends in Hydraulic Fracturing Distributions and Treatment Fluids, Additives, Proppants, and Water Volumes Applied to Wells Drilled in the United States From 1947 Through 2010—Data Analysis and Comparison to the Literature: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2014–5131, 2014–5131
,
U.S. Geological Survey
,
Reston, VA
. 10.3133/sir20145131
20.
Kazemi
,
H.
,
Eker
,
I.
,
Torcuk
,
M. A.
, and
Kurtoglu
,
B.
,
2015
, “Performance Analysis of Unconventional Shale Reservoirs,”
Fundamentals of Gas Shale Reservoirs
,
R.
Rezaee
, ed.,
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
,
Hoboken, NJ
, pp.
283
300
.
21.
Torcuk
,
M. A.
,
Kurtoglu
,
B.
,
Alharthy
,
N.
, and
Kazemi
,
H.
,
2013
, “
Analytical Solutions for Multiple Matrix in Fractured Reservoirs: Application to Conventional and Unconventional Reservoirs
,”
SPE J.
,
18
(
05
), pp.
969
981
, 10.2118/164528-PA
22.
Uzun
,
I.
,
Kurtoglu
,
B.
, and
Kazemi
,
H.
,
2016
, “
Multiphase Rate-Transient Analysis in Unconventional Reservoirs: Theory and Application
,”
SPE Reserv. Eval. Eng.
,
19
(
04
), pp.
553
566
, 10.2118/171657-PA
23.
Uzun
,
I.
,
Eker
,
E.
,
Cho
,
Y.
,
Kazemi
,
H.
, and
Rutledge
,
J. M.
,
2017
, “
Assessment of Rate Transient Analysis Techniques for Multiphase Flow in Unconventional Reservoirs: Application to Eagle Ford Formation
,”
SPE Western Regional Meeting
,
Bakersfield, CA
,
Apr. 23
. https://doi.org/10.2118/185737-MS
24.
Wang
,
L.
,
Dong
,
Z.
,
Li
,
X.
, and
Xia
,
Z.
,
2018
, “
A Multi-Scale Flow Model for Production Performance Analysis in Shale Gas Reservoirs With Fractal Geometry
,”
Sci. Rep.
,
8
(
1
), p.
11464
. 10.1038/s41598-018-29710-1
25.
National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Strategic Center for Natural Gas and Oil
,
2013
,
Modern Shale Gas Development in the United States: An Update
,
National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Strategic Center for Natural Gas and Oil
,
Morgantown, WV
, https://www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/oil-gas/publications/brochures/shale-gas-primer-update-2013.pdf.
26.
Ghanbarian
,
B.
,
Liang
,
F.
, and
Liu
,
H.-H.
,
2020
, “
Modeling Gas Relative Permeability in Shales and Tight Porous Rocks
,”
Fuel
,
272
, p.
117686
. 10.1016/j.fuel.2020.117686
27.
Cho
,
Y.
,
Uzun
,
I.
,
Eker
,
E.
,
Yin
,
X.
, and
Kazemi
,
H.
,
2016
, “
Water and Oil Relative Permeability of Middle Bakken Formation: Experiments and Numerical Modeling
,”
Proceedings of the 4th Unconventional Resources Technology Conference
,
American Association of Petroleum Geologists
,
San Antonio, TX
,
Aug. 1–3
. https://dx.doi.org/10.15530/urtec-2016-2456998.
28.
Suhrer
,
M.
,
Toelke
,
J.
,
Díaz
,
E.
,
Grader
,
A.
,
Walls
,
J.
,
Restrepo
,
D.
,
Cantisano
,
M. T.
, and
Cespedes
,
S.
,
2013
, “
Computed Two-Phase Relative Permeability Using Digital Rock Physics in a Shale Formation
,”
International Symposium of the Society of Core Analysts
,
Sept. 16–19
, Paper No. SCA 2013-037,
Napa Valley, CA
, pp.
1
12
.
29.
U.S. Energy Information Administration
,
2014
, “
Market Digest: Natural Gas (2013–2014)
,”
Production Lookback
, https://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/review/production/2013/,
last modified January 16, 2014, accessed May 14, 2019
.
30.
Dong
,
Z.
,
Holditch
,
S. A.
,
McVay
,
D. A.
,
Ayers
,
W. B.
,
Lee
,
W. J.
, and
Morales
,
E.
,
2014
, “
Probabilistic Assessment of World Recoverable Shale Gas Resources
,”
SPE/EAGE European Unconventional Resources Conference and Exhibition
,
Paper No. SPE-167768-MS
,
Vienna, Austria
, p.
21
. https://doi.org/10.2118/167768-MS.
31.
Weijers
,
L.
,
Fisher
,
D.
, and
Weddle
,
P.
,
2019
, “
Data Illustrates Evolution of Fracturing Designs in Resource Plays
,”
Am. Oil Gas Rep.
,
62
(
8
), pp.
84
93
. https://www.aogr.com/magazine/cover-story/data-illustrates-evolution-of-fracturing-designs-in-resource-plays
You do not currently have access to this content.