ECONOMIC POTENTIAL OF REINJECTION INTO GEOPRESSURED AQUIFERS.

An evaluation is made of the technical potential, the energy balance, and the economics of reinjecting produced brines into geopressured/geothermal aquifers. This analysis of reinjecting brines shows that, depending on the hydraulic turbine technology, 50 to 90% of the power requirements of reinjection into the producing aquifer can be met by extracting the thermal and kinetic energy from the produced geopressured/geothermal brines. Moreover, the technically recoverable methane resource could be increased 20 times by reinjecting the brines into the producing formation, compared to using more conventional disposal options.