Projects
Repurposing Legacy Wells for Cold Energy Production and Storage
Louisiana NSF EPSCoR LINK program · Contract NSF(2026)-LINK-158
A collaborative research residency at the Thermal Energy Systems Group, ECaSS Center, at the National Laboratory of the Rockies, to develop comparative frameworks for producing and storing cold energy in repurposed wells, assessed on consistent thermodynamic, operational and technoeconomic metrics.
The application targets are Gulf South specific, from industrial to agricultural cooling and dehumidification, focusing on peak shaving and climate resilience.
Deliverables. A comparative technology matrix; preliminary thermodynamic and performance models with scaling analyses; and a screening framework for Louisiana legacy wells.
Feasibility and Optimization of Thermal Energy Storage for Clean Energy Production in Louisiana: Utilization of Idle Oil and Gas Well Infrastructure
LSU Energy Institute
Principal Investigator: Jader R. Barbosa, Jr. · Co-Principal Investigator: Ipsita Gupta
A feasibility and optimization study of repurposing inactive and marginal Louisiana wells for long-duration thermal energy extraction and storage, structured in two work packages.
Well selection. Screening of the state well inventory through natural resources and related regulatory databases on depth, completion type, casing and cement integrity, subsurface temperature, and mechanical status, followed by geospatial clustering to identify groups of wells close enough to share surface plant and aggregate into grid-relevant storage capacity.
Storage and conversion. Prediction of storage capacity, thermal efficiency, and safe operating envelope per well, including radial losses into the formation and the number of charge–discharge cycles before casing or cement degradation becomes limiting; coupled to thermodynamic models of the surface facilities for energy conversion, with levelized cost of storage compared directly against permanent plugging and abandonment.
We partner with industry, national laboratories, and academic groups on problems that need both measurement and modeling. To discuss a collaboration or sponsored project, contact Prof. Barbosa at jbarbosa@lsu.edu.