Special Oil & Gas Reservoirs ›› 2025, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (4): 130-135.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1006-6535.2025.04.015

• Drilling & Production Engineering • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Research and experiment on electric thermal molten salt energy storage steam injection technology

LIU Jianfeng1, ZHANG Xin2, WANG Yantao2, ZHAO Xinggang2, LIU Bing2   

  1. 1. PetroChina Liaohe Oilfield Company, Panjin, Liaoning 124010, China;
    2. PetroChina Liaohe Petroleum Engineering Co., Ltd., Panjin, Liaoning 124010, China
  • Received:2025-03-21 Revised:2025-05-16 Online:2025-08-25 Published:2025-09-03

Abstract: To address the problems of high energy consumption and high carbon emissions in heavy oil steam injection systems, research on electric thermal molten salt energy storage steam injection technology suitable for heavy oil steam injection was carried out to achieve green development of heavy oil. Using Abaqus software simulation methods and system comprehensive thermal efficiency evaluation methods, the system operating conditions were optimized and designed, and field tests were conducted. The study shows that the technology of using electric thermal molten salt energy storage steam injection, which utilizes green electricity/off-peak electricity to replace fossil fuel combustion for producing wet saturated steam for heavy oil steam injection, is technically feasible; the steam flow rate of the steam preheating system fluctuates within a small range with changes in steam pressure, which is conducive to stable system operation and is the preferred preheating process for electric thermal molten salt energy storage steam injection systems; when the load rate of the electric thermal molten salt energy storage steam injection system is 60%~100%, the system comprehensive thermal efficiency is 92.61%~94.34%, and it increases with increasing system operating load; the average experimental value of system comprehensive thermal efficiency is 0.44 percentage points lower than the average theoretical calculation value, indicating a small deviation; compared with existing gas-fired steam injection boilers, the test station produces 4.8×104 t annually, replacing 313×104 m3/a of natural gas, and reducing CO2 emissions by 6 768 t/a. The research on this technology can provide technical support and practical guidance for the green transformation of heavy oil steam injection systems, and the system comprehensive thermal efficiency evaluation method can be used to guide engineering design.

Key words: molten salt energy storage, heavy oil, steam injection, system comprehensive thermal efficiency

CLC Number: