Keynote Speakers

Prof. Yinhui Zuo

Chengdu University of Technology, China

Title: Strata Temperatures and Geothermal Resource Evaluation in the Dongpu Depression, Bohai Bay Basin, North China

Abstract: The development of geothermal resources in the Dongpu Depression can improve not only the economic benefits of the oilfield, but also the ecological environment. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the geothermal resources in the region. Based on the heat flow, geothermal gradient and thermal properties, the temperatures and their distribution in different strata are calculated using geothermal methods, and the geothermal resource types of the Dongpu depression are identified. The results show that the geothermal resources include low-temperature, medium-temperature and high-temperature geothermal resources in the Dongpu Depression. The Minghuazhen and Guantao Formations mainly include low-temperature and medium-temperature geothermal resources; the Dongying and Shahejie Formations include low-temperature, medium-temperature and high-temperature geothermal resources; the Ordovician rocks mainly include medium-temperature and high-temperature geothermal resources. The Minghuazhen, Guantao and Dongying Formations can form good geothermal reservoirs and are favorable layers for exploring low-temperature and medium-temperature geothermal resources. The geothermal reservoir of the Shahejie Formation is relatively poor, and the thermal reservoirs may be developed in the western slope zone and the central uplift. The Ordovician carbonate strata can provide thermal reservoirs for geothermal resources, and the Cenozoic bottom temperature is more than 150 °C except for most of the western gentle slope zone. In addition, for the same stratum, the geothermal temperatures in the southern Dongpu Depression are higher than those in the northern depression.

Experience: Professor / Doctor / doctoral supervisor, director of New Energy Engineering Department of Chengdu University of Technology, deputy director of geothermal research center of Chengdu University of technology, and member of Academic Committee of College of Energy. He has been engaged in research on geothermal geology and petroleum geology for a long time, and has presided over more than 20, provincial and ministerial projects such as general projects of National Natural Science Foundation of China / youth fund projects and projects of Sichuan Provincial Department of science and technology. It has won 3 scientific and technological advances of China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation and Zhongyuan Oilfield, published more than 100 academic papers, including more than 50 papers retrieved by SCI and 6 authorized invention patents. He is the young editorial board member of marine oil and gas geology, the special editorial board member of Journal of Northeast Petroleum University, and the guest editor of frontier in Earth Science; Chairman of the 5th International Symposium on renewable energy and development, academic member of China deep geothermal forum and member of the Scientific Committee of Arabian Journal of Geosciences; Deputy director of Expert Committee of China Energy Society (expert No.: 2021551), Deputy Secretary General of petroleum geology Professional Committee of Sichuan Geological Society, member of China Petroleum Society, AAPG Association, International Association of seismology and interior Physics (IASPEI), China Renewable Energy Society and China geothermal alliance; Online evaluation experts of National Natural Science Foundation of China and evaluation experts of College Students' excellent scientific and technological works competition of China Renewable Energy Society.

Prof. Xiaoguang Wang

Chengdu University of Technology, China

Title: Heat exploitation and power generation through abandoned oil & gas wells: current challenges and future trends

Abstract: As a clean and renewable energy, the efficient development and utilization of geothermal energy is of great significance for adjusting the energy structure. There are nearly 10,000 abandoned oil and gas wells in the Sichuan Basin, China, which are featured with systematic geological and production data. It is a novel and promising technique to utilize abandoned oil and gas wells for the purpose of geothermal extraction and in-situ power generation. In this report, a literature review has been done to understand the current status of geothermal energy extraction and power generation utilizing abandoned oil and gas wells. Our work demonstrates that the existing power generation technique with low to medium geothermal resources has high requirements on wellhead production rate, and the existing reservoir and wellbore conditions are difficult to meet the flow requirements. Meanwhile, the downhole heat transfer efficiency is very limited under high flow rate conditions, and thus the wellhead temperature is difficult to maintain stable. Therefore, develop effective retrofit techniques to enhance production rates of hot fluids, and develop flexible and scalable distributed low to medium temperature power generation system and equipment are tasks that need to be solved urgently in the future.

Experience: Xiaoguang Wang is a Professor in the Department of New Energy Science and Engineering at Chengdu University of Technology. He leads the research team of Geothermal Energy Development and Geological Carbon Dioxide Sequestration in the State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, he also serves as deputy director of the research division of Geothermal Energy and Carbon Sequestration at the Tianfu Yongxing Laboratory. Previous to this he was Researcher at HydroSciences Montpellier (HSM) UMR5569 CNRS-UM-IRD. He holds BSc. degree from China University of Petroleum (East China), MSc. degree from University of Oklahoma and PhD degree from Imperial College London, all in Petroleum Engineering. Professor Wang's research interests are in flow and transport through porous and fractured media with applications to geothermal energy production, geological carbon storage, oil and gas recovery, and contaminant transport and clean-up in polluted aquifers. He performs experimental, theoretical and numerical research into many aspects of flow and transport in porous and fractured systems, including numerical modelling of coupled THMC processes, and inverse modelling using optimization and artificial intelligence methods. He has published over 40 scientific papers and obtained 8 research grants at the national and provincial level.

Prof. Guobing Zhou

North China Electric Power University, China

Title: Supercooled Thermal Energy Storage: Advances and Challenges

Abstract: Energy storage by latent heat of phase change materials (PCMs) plays an important role in solar thermal applications. Inorganic PCMs such as salt hydrates have significant supercooling, which is usually considered as undesirable to be avoided or reduced. However, this feature can be used for long–term/seasonal or flexible energy storage. This presentation discusses the recent progress, particularly in our work, and challenges on application of supercooled thermal energy storage. Realization of stable supercooling, triggering solidification, and modelling techniques on supercooled phase transition processes are mainly concerned. Some suggestions are also given for future work in this field.

Experience: Dr. Guobing Zhou, is a professor, doctoral supervisor at School of Energy, Power and Mechanical Engineering, NCEPU. He got his doctor’s degree at Tianjin University in 2005. Then, he entered Tsinghua University for 2 years of postdoctoral research work. Since 2007, he has been working for NCEPU. He also studied and worked as a visiting scholar in Carnegie Mellon University (2009-2010) and Rice University (2016-2017). His research focuses on application of solar energy in buildings, combined with latent heat thermal energy storage; fluid flow and heat transfer as well as energy efficiency in HVAC&R system. He has hosted more than 20 projects, published 80+ journal papers with more than 1700 times of SCI citation. He has 15 granted patents and one published academic book. He received the 2nd prize for Natural Sciences Award of Hebei province (as the 1st completed) in 2017. He is the member of editorial board of 3 journals.

Prof. Qian Xu

Jiangsu University, China

Title: Synergistic enhancement of performance  for non-aqueous redox flow batteries

Abstract: Compared with conventional aqueous electrolytes, non-aqueous Deep Eutectic Solvent (DES) has a wider electrochemical window, simple preparation, low vapor pressure and low cost, so it has been used as electrolytes for redox flow batteries. But high viscosity of DES causes inferior transport property, resulting in lower performance. To address this issue, external fields are applied. The changes on physical and electrochemical properties and impedance of DES electrolyte are studied by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy under the effect of temperature, magnetic field and supersonic field, respectively, and the underlying mechanisms are explored. The fields-synergy is analyzed and the optimized multi-fields are applied to a DES electrolyte redox flow battery, leading to a cell performance enhancement up to 76.9%. 

Experience: Dr. Qian Xu got his Ph.D from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in 2013. He worked as a Research Associate in HKUST and visiting scholar in University of Waterloo, Canada. Currently he is a Professor in Jiangsu University, and also serves as the Deputy Director of Institute for Fuel Cells. His researches focus on heat and mass transfer in micro-nano-structures, fuel cell and redox flow battery technologies. He is a recipient of “Jiangsu Six-Talent” Project and Excellent Youth Researcher of Jiangsu Thermophysics Society, as well as more than 10 research projects. As the first/corresponding author, he has published more than 60 peer-reviewed journal papers, with a citation of more than 3100 (H-index 26). Besides he has published 3 books in English or Chinese, 2 chapters, applied 23 patents with 6 issued. He is the editorial member for Processes and International Journal of Green Energy.