简介：雪佛龙技术风险投资公司（CTV）已经为称为重油开采太阳能-热蒸汽采油系统进行场地准备工作。该项目位于加利福尼亚一处老油田，它将充分利用多达3000面镜进行太阳光收集，然后加热水塔，产生水蒸气，注入油井下，降低石油粘度，从而实现采收率提升。该项技术对一贯依赖天然气的热蒸汽注入来说，是一种新型的环保可持续性新工艺，将对雪佛龙的绿色环保目标做出贡献。

Chevron Technology Ventures has started site preparations for what is being called the world’s first solar-to-steam field demonstration for heavy oil extraction. The company will partner with solar start-up BrightSource Energy to generate steam from captured sunlight, which will be then be pumped downhole to lower the viscosity of oil in aging California oil fields. 

The closed-loop system of steam generation is a low carbon emission alternative to the current process of burning natural gas to produce steam, Chevron says. The demonstration project will employ at least 3,000?and perhaps as many as 7,000?mirrors to collect sunlight and develop up to 20 MW of thermal power. This power will be concentrated onto a 300-ft water tower, converting the water to a superheated steam at a temperature of 550 °C (1,022 °F) that is then injected into wells to heat the oil, lowering its viscosity and allowing it more easily flow out of the reservoir.

The site?100 acres of a Chevron-operated oil field near Coalinga, California?was chosen by Chevron after one and a half years of study for its flat topography and its high incidence of sun exposure. Construction of the Coalinga plant is scheduled to begin later this year and production is slated to start by the end of 2010, according to Sergio Hoyos, a business developer at Chevron Technology Ventures.

He added that although solar thermal would never completely replace natural gas in steam production for oil extraction, it is an opportunity for Chevron to save energy while championing an environmentally-sustainable technology. If successful, the company plans to replicate this project on other aging oil fields.

Links: BrightSource Energy: www.brightsourceenergy.com/
Chevron Technology Ventures: www.chevron.com/ctv/

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