Geothermal energy potential in Oktibbeha County- Is Mississippi r

Mississippi State University Scholars Junction Honors Theses Undergraduate Research 8-1-2013 Geothermal energy potential in Oktibbeha County: Is Mississippi really hot? Cary Ruth Lindsey Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/honorstheses Recommended Citation Lindsey, Cary Ruth, "Geothermal energy potential in Oktibbeha County: Is Mississippi really hot?" (2013) Honors Theses 16 https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/honorstheses/16 This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Research at Scholars Junction It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholars Junction For more information, please contact scholcomm@msstate.libanswers.com Automated Template B: Created by James Nail 2011V2.01 Geothermal Energy Potential in Oktibbeha County: Is Mississippi Really Hot? By Cary Ruth Lindsey A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Mississippi State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science in Geology in the Department of Geosciences Mississippi State, Mississippi August 2013 Copyright by Cary Ruth Lindsey 2013 Geothermal Energy Potential in Oktibbeha County: Is Mississippi Really Hot? By Cary Ruth Lindsey Approved: _ Brenda Kirkland Associate Professor of Geosciences (Director of Thesis) _ Rinat Gabitov Assistant Professor of Geosciences (Committee) _ Seth Oppenheimer Professor of Mathematics and Director of Undergraduate Research (Shackouls Honor College Representative) Name: Cary Ruth Lindsey Date of Degree: August 1, 2013 Institution: Mississippi State University Major Field: Geology Major Professor: Major Professor(s) Title of Study: Geothermal Energy Potential in Oktibbeha County: Is Mississippi Really Hot? Pages in Study: 33 Candidate for Degree of Bachelor of Science Geothermal energy is a clean, renewable, base load (always available) energy source Advances in geothermal technology are making it possible to produce electricity at temperatures heretofore thought impossible The last geothermal assessment of Mississippi was in 1976 and focused on extreme southern areas of the state The conclusion of this assessment was positive, yet no further studies have been completed Recent geothermal resource maps of Mississippi show the potential for thousands of megawatts of this unlimited energy source This assessment focuses on Oktibbeha County in North Central Mississippi, an area of active fossil fuel production Well logs were reviewed to gather bottom-hole temperatures, mathematically normalized and used to create a thermal gradient map of the county The map shows temperatures exceeding 160°C, well above the 135°C needed for geothermal binary production, in western Oktibbeha County beginning at depths of around 4,000 meters iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It would not have been possible to complete this senior thesis without the assistance of many individuals and organizations I would first like to thank my three advisors Dr Chris Dewey’’s encouragement to follow my research passion and his superb training in writing and presenting have greatly contributed to this thesis and my skillset moving forward Dr Craig Grimes was willing to take me on as an undergraduate researcher and assisted in developing the project Dr Brenda Kirkland has been a constant source of support and knowledge throughout my undergraduate career at Mississippi State University Her willingness to take me on after the departure of my two previous advisers is greatly appreciated I would also like to thank Dr Rinat Gabitov and Dr Seth Oppenheimer for serving on my committee While neither have experience in my area of research, both expressed enthusiasm and encouragement For that I am thankful My thanks go to Dr Andrew Mercer and Dr John Rodgers for assistance in mapping my results The faculty and staff at the Geothermal Lab at Southern Methodist University filled the gaps in my training and have become friends, supporters and fellow researchers in this process Finally, I would like to thank the faculty, staff and fellow students of the National Geothermal Academy and the Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy It has been a privilege to work with such an amazing group of people dedicated to geothermal research v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .v LIST OF FIGURES vii CHAPTER 1 I INTRODUCTION .1 II BACKGROUND .2 III LITERATURE REVIEW 11 IV METHODS 13 Data Collection 13 Data Reduction .16 Data Processing 16 V RESULTS 18 VI DISCUSSION 22 VII CONCLUSIONS 29 REFERENCES 30 vi LIST OF FIGURES 2.1 Direct use agriculture and aquaculture near Klamath Falls, Oregon 3 2.2 Schematic of Geothermal Heat Pump/Ground Source Heat Pump (www.hdgeothermal.co.uk) 4 2.3 Schematic of Dry Steam Power Plant (www.eere.energy.gov) 6 2.4 Schematic of Single Flash Power Plant (www.geosyndicate.com) .7 2.5 Schematic of Double Flash Power Plant (Guzoviü et al., 2012) 8 2.6 Schematic of Binary Cycle Geothermal Power Plant (www.nevadageothermal.com) 9 2.7 Schematic of Enhanced Geothermal System –– EGS (www.eree.energy.gov) 10 4.1 Data Spreadsheet for Oktibbeha County 14 4.2 Sample Well Log Header 15 5.1 Arrow indicating location of the MS Fulgham Well (http://www.ogb.state.ms.us/, 2012) 19 5.2 Temperature vs Depth Trend for Oktibbeha County 20 5.3 Geothermal Temperature Gradient Contour of Oktibbeha County 21 6.1 Google Earth Temperature at Depth Map, 2011 The light green color of Oktibbeha County represents temperatures at 6.5 km around 100°C (www.google.org/egs) 24 6.2 Geologic Map of Mississippi (Thompson, 2011) .25 6.3 Stratigraphy of Black Warrior Basin (Ryder, 2012) 26 6.4 Structural Map of Mississippi –– Oktibbeha County circled in red (Gazzier, 1988) .27 6.5 Compilation Map of Oktibbeha County 28 vii viii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The objective of this project is to refine the heat resource assessment of Oktibbeha County, Mississippi for the purpose of geothermal energy utilization It is hypothesized that a refined assessment, with greater resolution, would show temperatures in the study area are higher than previously suggested It is also hypothesized that average temperatures needed to produce geothermal energy via a binary cycle geothermal system, 135° C, are present in Oktibbeha County at depths previously drilled The United States Energy Information Administration estimates that the average American household uses 12,000 kWh of electricity per year (www.eia.gov, 2012) In 2011, Southern Methodist University researchers led by Dr David Blackwell, in a project funded by Google, Inc., calculated that at 14% recovery, Mississippi had an estimated geothermal potential of over 60,000 megawatts (http://www.google.org/egs/, 2012), which is enough to supply electricity to over sixty million homes As a point of comparison, according to 2010 United States Census Bureau data, Mississippi currently has less than 1.3 million homes (www.census.gov, 2012) Exploitation of this vast energy source could put Mississippi in the position of becoming an energy exporter It is likely actual temperatures found in some subsurface areas of Mississippi are higher than the estimates provide by Blackwell (2011) The numbers generated by Blackwell (2011) are based on data from only 27 collection sites in Mississippi The 27 Figure 5.10 Arrow indicating location of the MS Fulgham Well (http://www.ogb.state.ms.us/, 2012) 19 Figure 5.11 Temperature vs Depth Trend for Oktibbeha County The data were also used to create a geothermal contour map of Oktibbeha County using R, a program used for statistical graphics (Fig 4.3) A formula was written for R using recorded latitudes, longitudes, and adjusted bottom-hole temperatures The formula was then used to interpolate at what depth for each location a temperature of 135°C would be reached The map shows a steep low temperature geothermal gradient in eastern Oktibbeha County ranging from 6,000 to 9,000 meters to reach 135°C This seems to follow lithological boundaries In western Oktibbeha County the gradients show that the 20 optimum temperature is reached at 5,000 meters The data actually show temperature reached between 4,000-5000 meters Figure 5.12 Geothermal Temperature Gradient Contour of Oktibbeha County 21 CHAPTER VI DISCUSSION The temperatures found in Oktibbeha County exceed previous estimations on the most current geothermal maps of the United States The latest, 2011 edition map created by the research team at Southern Methodist University, sponsored by Google Inc (google.org/egs, 2012), shown in Figure 5.1, shows the average temperature at 6.5 km depth to be around 100°C for Oktibbeha County The temperatures gathered and normalized for this thesis are in some locations as much as 50°C higher that those estimated on the Google map The higher temperatures found in this study could indicate potential geologic causation for this increased temperature reading that was not represented in previous assessments When compared to the 1969 geologic map of Mississippi in Figure 5.2 (Thompson, 2011) the higher gradients found in this study appear to be clustered in eastern Oktibbeha County where the Porters Creek, Wilcox and the Naheola formations crop out Well records submitted to the Mississippi Oil and Gas Board for the MS Fulgham well indicate the formation at the depths drilled in Oktibbeha County, or at least those exceeding the normal temperature gradient, is the Knox Formation The stratigraphy of the formations associated with the Knox Formation is presented in Figure 5.3 (Ryder, 2012) The Knox Formation is a Cambrian-Ordovician dolostone known to 22 show evidence of karst porosity While several members make up the formation, the Knox is known to contain saddle dolomite, which is associated with hydrothermal fluid flow (Qing, 2008) In some areas of Kentucky this saddle dolomite formation shows evidence of porosity associated vugs lined with dolomite crystals, believed to have been precipitated from hydrothermal fluids (Pittenger et al., 2009) The structural map of Mississippi, shown in Figure 5.4, documents two faults in the area of the higher temperature wells (Gazzier, 1988) It is possible these faults allow for the upward movement of hot geothermal fluid from deep in the crust, thus causing the increased temperatures (Blackwell, et al., 2012a) The blocks associated with these two faults could also host traps for geothermal fluid Further investigation is needed to determine if in fact these geologic occurrences are affecting the thermal gradient in Oktibbeha County A compilation map of data from the geologic map, the structural map and the geothermal contour map is presented in Figure 5.5 The map shows the steep, low temperature geothermal gradient corresponding well with the lithologic boundaries in eastern Oktibbeha County The gradient in western Oktibbeha, which shows the most shallow depths to reach 135°C, is actually slightly off from the expected results The contour of 5,000 meters was expected to superimpose between the two faults in Oktibbeha The contour actually fell slightly north This could be due to error in creating the overlay, or simply statistical error due to having such a small number of data points There is, however, still evidence of higher temperatures near the faults It should be noticed that the hottest well is also in an area known for natural gas exploration,which is indicative of elevated temperatures 23 The greatest significance of this study for Oktibbeha County and Mississippi is that it demonstrates the opportunity for Oktibbeha County to become home to a clean energy-producing facility Such a facility could provide an alternative to another lignite coal operation in Mississippi, increase economic stability in the area, as well as encourage further exploration of geothermal potential statewide As geothermal production increases, Mississippi could move from the top of the list of states that consume the most electricity per capita, 9th according the Energy Almanac (http://energyalmanac.ca.gov/electricity/us_per_capita_electricity-2010.html, 2013), to a state that actually exports electricity Figure 6.13 Google Earth Temperature at Depth Map, 2011 The light green color of Oktibbeha County represents temperatures at 6.5 km around 100°C (www.google.org/egs) 24 Figure 6.14 Geologic Map of Mississippi (Thompson, 2011) 25 Figure 6.15 Stratigraphy of Black Warrior Basin (Ryder, 2012) 26 Figure 6.16 Structural Map of Mississippi –– Oktibbeha County circled in red (Gazzier, 1988) 27 Figure 6.17 Compilation Map of Oktibbeha County 28 CHAPTER VII CONCLUSIONS Bottom-hole temperatures exceeding 135°C, a temperature sufficient for geothermal binary power production, were found to be present in Oktibbeha County Mapping of the area suggests linear features in the north east part of the county These temperatures were found at depths previously drilled in Oktibbeha County The most likely cause for high heat flow in this area is either faulting or a lithological boundary 29 REFERENCES "Alternative Earth Resources Inc - How Geothermal Works - Fri May 3, 2013." Alternative Earth Resources Inc - How Geothermal Works - Fri May 3, 2013 N.p., n.d Web 01 Apr 2013 "Black Warrior Basin Subsurface Geology and Topics of Interest." Vision Exploration, L.L.C Web 22 Apr 2012 Blackwell, D., M Richards, 2004, ““Calibration of the AAPG Geothermal Survey of North America BHT Data Base””, AAPG Annual Meeting, Poster session, Paper 87616 Blackwell, D., M Richards, and Z Frone, 2010 ““Elevated Crustal Temperatures in West Virginia: Potential for Geothermal Power Web Blackwell, D., M Richards, and P Stepp 2010 ““Texas Geothermal Assessment for the I35 Corridor East For Texas State Energy Conservation Office Contract CM709””, Southern Methodist University, p 19-20 Cichon, Meg "Breathing Life Into US Geothermal: First EGS Project Feeding Power to Grid." 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Web 22 Apr 2012 Pittenger, M., C Feazel, G J Buijs, R R Reid and P.W Johnson 2009 ““Search and Discovery Article #50212””, AAPG Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, Poster session, article 50212 "Prof D.Chandrasekharam, Geothermics,hydrogeochemistry,volconology,iitb,india." Prof .Chandrasekharam, Geothermics,hydrogeochemistry,volconology,iitb,india N.p., n.d Web 03 May 2013 Qing, H (2008) A tale of two saddle dolomites; research continued from earlier work with Professor Mountjoy Abstracts: Annual Meeting - American Association Of Petroleum Geologists, 2008 Richards, Maria 2012 "Undergraduate Geothermal Research." Message to the author Email 32 Ryder, R T Black Warrior Basin Province Web 02 Apr 2012 Thompson, David E., 2011 Geologic Map of Mississippi: Mississippi, Department of Environmental Quality, 2011 "U.S Per Capita Electricity Use By State In 2010." U.S Per Capita Electricity Use By State In 2010 N.p., n.d Web 04 Apr 2013 United States Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Energy Conversion: A History of Geothermal Energy Research and Development in the United States.Web United States of America Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Energy Conversion: A History of Geothermal Energy Research and Development in the United States Print "U.S DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Home Page." U.S DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Home Page Web 02 Apr 2012 "U.S Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysis." U.S Energy Information Administration (EIA) Web 02 Apr 2012 33 ... gradient is needed to verify the true geothermal potential in the state of Mississippi The particular area of interest in this study is Oktibbeha County CHAPTER II BACKGROUND Geothermal energy is heat... United States of America Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Energy Conversion: A History of Geothermal Energy Research... Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Energy Conversion: A History of Geothermal Energy Research and Development in the United States.Web