Geothermal energy is one of the renewable energy sources that have gained extensive recognition as an alternative energy source to fossil fuel energy because of its sustainability and low impact on the environment. However, in spite of the benefits of geothermal energy, drilling costs often hinders the development of geothermal fields for production. The drilling costs can be reduced to a great extent by using the abandoned oil and gas wells, surrounded by hot water, for geothermal resource development. The depth and abundance of abandoned wells in oilfields make them an economically attractive source for geothermal energy. Indian oilfields have several abandoned oil/gas wells and have huge potential for geothermal energy. Such oilfields are discussed in this paper. Geothermal energy resources in the oilfields can be categorized in two categories: (1) High temperature co-produced water—from deep oil/gas wells or from high-temperature shallow formation, thus, heat can be extracted through double-pipe heat exchanger in a single well, (2) Another approach to extract geothermal energy could be in situ combustion of difficult-to-extract hydrocarbons from the formation. In-situ combustion of hydrocarbons produces enormous heat that can be utilized for power generation. A detailed design for the heat recovery from the oil field is also discussed here.

中文翻译：

---

印度油田的地热能潜力

地热能是可再生能源之一，由于其可持续性和对环境的影响小，因此已成为化石燃料能源的替代能源。然而，尽管具有地热能的好处，但是钻井成本常常阻碍了开发地热田的生产。通过将被热水包围的废弃的油气井用于地热资源开发，可以在很大程度上降低钻井成本。油田中废弃井的深度和丰富性使它们成为地热能的经济吸引力。印度油田有几个废弃的油气井，具有巨大的地热能源潜力。本文讨论了此类油田。油田中的地热能资源可分为两类：（1）高温联产水-从深层油/气井或高温浅层地层中采出的水，因此，可以通过单管中的双管热交换器提取热量，（2）提取地热能的另一种方法可能是在地层中难提取的碳氢化合物的原位燃烧。碳氢化合物的原位燃烧会产生巨大的热量，可用于发电。这里还将讨论从油田回收热量的详细设计。碳氢化合物的原位燃烧会产生巨大的热量，可用于发电。这里还将讨论从油田回收热量的详细设计。碳氢化合物的原位燃烧会产生巨大的热量，可用于发电。这里还将讨论从油田回收热量的详细设计。