Gas dissolved in the depth of natural reservoirs as a renewable energy source: the theory of self-supported gaslift

A new way of recovery of energy of gas dissolved in depth water of natural reservoirs is estimated. The theoretical consideration is given for one of the variants of the corresponding techniques. The main idea of the technology is based on the possibility of excitation of self-supported gas-liquid flow in a tube put in the reservoir with nonuniform space distribution of the dissolved gas. The physical essence of this process is in the combination of two main effects: dependence of concentration of dissolved gas on pressure; and the gaslift phenomenon. The hydrodynamic model of the operation of the device is constructed. On the basis of the model, the conditions of arising the flow in the tube are found. Also, the capacity of the corresponding energy plant is estimated. The analysis shows the feasibility of the method and the possibility of the development of a rather powerful energy system with usage of the idea.