TITLE:
Geothermal Gradient and Heat Flow in the Nigeria Sector of the Chad Basin, Nigeria
AUTHORS:
Mohammed Yerima Kwaya, Ewa Kurowska, Abdullahi Suleiman Arabi
KEYWORDS:
Geothermal Gradient, Heat Flow, Chad Basin, Thermal Conductivity
JOURNAL NAME:
Computational Water, Energy, and Environmental Engineering,
Vol.5 No.2,
April
26,
2016
ABSTRACT: Information on geothermal gradient and heat flow within the subsurface is critical in the quest for geothermal energy exploration. In a bid to ascertain the thermal potential of Nigeria sector of the Chad Basin for energy generation, subsurface temperature information from 19 oil wells, 24 water boreholes drilled to depths beyond 100 metres and atmospheric temperature from the Chad basin were utilized in calculating geothermal gradient of the area. Selected ditch cuttings from the wells were subjected to thermal conductivity test using Thermal Conductivity Scanner (TCS) at the Polish Geological Institute Laboratory in Warsaw. The terrestrial heat flow was calculated according to the Fourier’s law as a simple product of the geothermal gradient and the mean thermal conductivity. Results obtained indicated geothermal gradient range of 2.81 °C/100 m to 5.88 °C/100 m with an average of 3.71 °C/100 m. The thermal conductivity values from the different representative samples range from 0.58 W/m*K to 4.207 W/m*K with an average of 1.626 W/m*K. The work presented a heat flow value ranging from 45 mW/m2 to about 90 mW/m2 in the Nigerian sector of the Chad Basin.