US 12,760,633 B2Granted

Systems and methods for horizontal wells for in-situ mining with or without electrokinetic assistance

AssigneeSchlumberger Technology Corporation

InventorsDenis Heliot, Lina Xu, Rod Shampine, Amol Bhome, Gritsadapong Leaungvongpaisan

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Abstract

Systems and methods for horizontal wells for in-situ mining are provided. A system for in-situ mining includes: an injection well including: a first vertical portion (VP) extending downward from a ground surface, the first VP receiving a lixiviant, and a first horizontal portion (HP) connected to the first VP and extending horizontally through the ground, the first HP receiving the lixiviant from the first VP, and injecting the lixiviant into the ground to dissolve a target material forming a solution, and a production well including: a second HP extending horizontally parallel to the first HP through the ground, the second HP receiving the solution from the first HP, and a second VP connected to the second HP and extending upward to the ground surface, the second VP: receiving the solution from the second HP, and pumping the solution to a processing plant to separate the target material from the lixiviant.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A system for in-situ mining, comprising:

an injection well in an area of interest, the injection well comprising:
a first vertical portion extending downward from a ground surface, the first vertical portion being configured to receive a lixiviant from a lixiviant source;
and
a first horizontal portion connected to the first vertical portion, the first horizontal portion extending horizontally across the area of interest through a permeable ground layer, the first horizontal portion being configured to:
receive the lixiviant from the first vertical portion;
and
inject the lixiviant into the permeable ground layer to dissolve a target material to form a solution containing the lixiviant and the target material;
and
a production well in the area of interest, the production well comprising:
a second horizontal portion, the second horizontal portion extending horizontally across the area of interest parallel to the first horizontal portion through the permeable ground layer, the second horizontal portion being configured to receive the solution from the first horizontal portion;
and
a second vertical portion connected to the second horizontal portion, the second vertical portion extending upward to the ground surface, the second vertical portion being configured to:
receive the solution from the second horizontal portion;
and
pump the solution to a processing plant to separate the target material from the lixiviant,
wherein:
electrokinetic in-situ leaching (EK-ISL) is applied to the injection well and the production well,
one of the injection well and the production well is an anode, and
the other of the injection well and the production well is a cathode, and
wherein:
the first horizontal portion and the second horizontal portion are each sectioned into a plurality of zones,
each zone of the first horizontal portion is paired with a respective zone of the second horizontal portion, and
a first pair of first horizontal portion zone and second horizontal portion zone is independently operable from a second pair of first horizontal portion zone and second horizontal portion zone by power of the EK-ISL being independently applied to each respective zone.

20 more elements

A method for in-situ mining, the method comprising:

providing an injection well in an area of interest, the providing the injection well comprising:
providing a first vertical portion extending downward from a ground surface, the first vertical portion being configured to receive a lixiviant from a lixiviant source;
and
providing a first horizontal portion connected to the first vertical portion, the first horizontal portion extending horizontally across the area of interest through a permeable ground layer, the first horizontal portion:
receiving the lixiviant from the first vertical portion;
and
injecting the lixiviant into the permeable ground layer to dissolve a target material to form a solution containing the lixiviant and the target material;
and
providing a production well in the area of interest, the providing the production well comprising:
providing a second horizontal portion, the second horizontal portion extending horizontally across the area of interest parallel to the first horizontal portion through the permeable ground layer, the second horizontal portion receiving the solution from the first horizontal portion;
and
providing a second vertical portion connected to the second horizontal portion, the second vertical portion extending upward to the ground surface, the second vertical portion:
receiving the solution from the second horizontal portion;
and
pumping the solution to a processing plant to separate the target material from the lixiviant,
wherein:
electrokinetic in-situ leaching (EK-ISL) is applied to the injection well and the production well,
one of the injection well and the production well is an anode, and
the other of the injection well and the production well is a cathode, and
wherein:
the first horizontal portion and the second horizontal portion are each sectioned into a plurality of zones,
each zone of the first horizontal portion is paired with a respective zone of the second horizontal portion, and
a first pair of first horizontal portion zone and second horizontal portion zone is independently operable from a second pair of first horizontal portion zone and second horizontal portion zone by power of the EK-ISL being independently applied to each respective zone.

20 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.