New oil refinery in South Texas, U.S. plans to run on geothermal power

Shell Deer Park Refinery, Deer Park Texas/ U.S. (source: flickr/ Roy Luck, creative commons)

Alexander Richter 13 Feb 2017

A new planned oil refinery in South Texas is planning to utilise a new technology that will utilise carbon dioxide to derive geothermal energy to power operations.

Earlier this month, Raven Petroleum, a newly formed development company planning to take advantage of opportunities in the current gas and oil marketplace. Raven buys, sells, develops energy related properties. Projects include petroleum refineries, ethanol plants and natural gas operations.

The company now has chosen a contractor to build a new refinery, as well as a contract on tapping into geothermal power to operate it.

Having signed a memorandum of understanding last month, the company is planning to “go the extra mile, the extra effort and expense to crate a model refinery with the latest technology available to accomplish our goal of being the cleanest refinery … period.”, so Christopher Moore, Managing Director of Raven Petroleum.

The planned $500 million refinery project in South Texas is planning to utilise a technology developed by Texas-based Thermal Energy Partners to utilise geothermal energy for its power needs.

In a statement to press, the CEO of Thermal Energy Partners Bruce Cutright considers the site for the refinery project a “sweet spot for geothermal energy.

“Cutright said early cycles of geothermal power will rely on high-temperature brackish water from deep underground while later cycles will rely on the refinery’s own carbon dioxide emissions for power.

Cutright’s company has designed a system where the refinery’s emissions are captured and pumped deep underground where carbon dioxide will become “supercritical” from the pressure and heat. The supercritical carbon dioxide will then be used as fuel source for the geothermal power plant’s turbines. “We’re excited that this is going to be in Texas to show that carbon dioxide is not a problem,” Cutright said. “It’s going to revolutionize the production of geothermal energy.”, so an article in Biz Journals.

Source: Biz Journals