Enel soliciting ideas to reduce the smell of geothermal well testing

Olfactory test facility (source: Enel Open Innovability)

Enel Green Power, through the Enel Open Innovability platform, is currently soliciting projects or systems that will eliminate or at least strongly reduce the olfactory impact of atmospheric geothermal well testing. Enel if offering a reward of up to $20,000. Submissions will be accepted until 15 January 2023, 11:59 PM CET.

The focus of the project shall be the mitigation of the nuisance of smells in areas close to geothermal well testing and controlling the levels of hydrogen sulfide in the well operation site. The solution must be applicable to wells having different characteristics in terms of fluid flow rate, temperature, pressure, gas content and chemical composition. The preferred method does not involve in-well treatment. Finally, the solution must be transportable to different testing locations.

Enel had previously explored the in-well injection of hydrogen peroxide through coil tubing. The abatement of hydrogen sulfide through this method was successful, but the solution was not permanently implemented due to significant plant complexity and the large effort needed to commercialize the procedure.

A preliminary commercial scouting analysis conducted in early 2022 did not identify technical solutions suitable for the proposed applications. However, it was recognized that dry granular media scavengers, mixtures of iron oxides and/or mixed metal oxides, or an inert inorganic carrier may be suitable components of a feasible solution. Acceptable methods may separate the hydrogen sulfide from the water stream or treat the whole fluid.

More details on this project are available in the official Enel Open Innovability page.

Source: Enel Open Innovability