GlassPoint, a supplier of solar steam generators used in oil and gas industry, declared that Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), the state oil company of Oman, has entered into an accord to construct a 7 MW solar enhanced oil recovery (EOR) System.
Direct Steam Generation Using GlassPoint Solar. Credit: GlassPoint
The company is planning to utilize the system in one of its present thermal EOR projects located in southern Oman. The solar EOR will be utilized by the company to cut down the level of gas utilized at its thermal EOR and the saved gas will be deployed for the purpose of higher end usages such as export, industrial development, desalination and electric power production.
The solar EOR installation is designed to utilize the concentrated thermal energy received from the sun to generate inexpensive and non-polluting steam. The generated steam will be flowed into the present steam delivery network of PDO. The solar EOR facility located over an area of over four acres will generate around 11 tons of high pressure of 1,450 psi and high temperature of around 312°C steam per hour.
The EOR facility proposed for POD is exclusively built to endure tough weather conditions of the Gulf. The distinctive single transit trough (STT) architecture enwraps the weightless reflective mirrors of the system within a glasshouse arrangement to shield the system from humidity, sand, dust and dirt. The STT systems from the company produces nearly five times more steam per acre of area than the older systems and in the present facility it will bring down the natural gas used for EOR purposes by nearly 80%.