Thermochemical reactions using geothermal energy
A reaction system includes a wellbore extending from a surface into a subterranean heat source. The reaction system further includes a reaction chamber configured to be maintained at a reaction temperature using heat from the subterranean heat source. The reaction system further includes one or more inlet conduits. The inlet conduits are configured to provide one or more feed streams to the reaction chamber. The reaction system also includes outlet conduits configured to allow flow of one or more product streams.
1. A method for producing hydrocarbons, the method comprising:
injecting a first feed stream and a second feed stream into a reaction chamber extending at least partially into a magma reservoir to produce an intermediate product stream, wherein:
the first feed stream comprises one or more oxides of carbon,
the second feed stream comprises hydrogen, water, or both,
the reaction chamber comprises a catalyst,
the reaction chamber is at a temperature and a pressure, and
the intermediate product stream comprises water, one or more hydrocarbon products, unreacted oxides of carbon and hydrogen; and
injecting the intermediate product stream from the reaction chamber into a recovery equipment to obtain one or more liquid hydrocarbon end products and one or more gas hydrocarbon end products, unreacted carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen, wherein the one or more liquid hydrocarbon end products and the one or more gas hydrocarbon end products are obtained using heat from a subterranean heat source, wherein the subterranean heat source is the magma reservoir.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising maintaining the temperature and pressure of the reaction chamber and recovery equipment using the heat from the subterranean heat source.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second feed stream comprising hydrogen is obtained from a thermochemical splitting of water using heat from the subterranean heat source.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the first feed stream comprises carbon dioxide,
the second feed stream comprises hydrogen,
the first product stream comprises methane and carbon monoxide, and
the second product stream comprises water.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the catalyst comprises, nickel, ruthenium, or alumina.
6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the water is injected into a reactor that splits water into oxygen and hydrogen.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the first feed stream comprises carbon monoxide,
the second feed stream comprises hydrogen or water,
the first product stream comprises liquid hydrocarbons, and
the second product stream comprises water.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reaction chamber is housed within a vessel disposed within a wellbore extending into the magma reservoir.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a depth of a wellbore supplying the reaction temperature to the reaction chamber; and
installing the reaction chamber within the wellbore at the determined depth.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reaction chamber is a cased or uncased volume within a wellbore extending into the magma reservoir.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a depth of a wellbore corresponding to the reaction temperature; and
injecting the first feed stream and the second feed stream into the reaction chamber at the determined depth within the wellbore.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein injecting the intermediate product stream into the recovery equipment further comprises:
transferring the intermediate product stream to a separator vessel; and
separating the intermediate product stream into the one or more liquid hydrocarbon end products and the one or more gas hydrocarbon end products.
13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
supplying at least some of the heat to an absorption chiller to form a cooling fluid; and
cooling the separator vessel with the cooling fluid form the one or more liquid hydrocarbon end products and the one or more gas hydrocarbon end products.