Solar plants used for oil

Currently, the construction of the solar plant is conducted in Oman, which after the completion of the construction will be one of the largest in the world. The singularity of this event is that the station will not generate electricity; it will produce superheated steam which is used in some technologies oil. Miraah station which is under construction now Glasspoint commissioned by Petroleum Development Oman Company, will produce the equivalent of 1 GW of energy and it will replace less environmentally friendly and more energy-intensive natural gas combustion technology.
The rows of crooked mirrors Miraah station located under the transparent canopies type greenhouses will focus light on the tubes within which water is converted into steam. In contrast, solar power plants, which produced this way pairs rotates a generator turbine, generating electricity, steam produced by the station Miraah, will be used at the nearby oil fields to heat the heavy crude oil, which becomes more liquid and which is then easier to pump to the surface .
During the oil field operation there comes a time when a large part of the light crude oil has been pumped out and resort to a more complex and costly method of production called secondary oil recovery (Enhanced Oil Recovery, EOR). This method allows you to produce a heavier and more viscous the oil, the share of which now accounts for a large proportion of the world’s remaining reserves.
EOR technology is based on a method of filling with steam (steam flooding), superheated steam is introduced into the oilfield subsoil, where it heats the oil, which reduces its viscosity and allowing pump it to the surface without much difficulty. Currently, to produce steam, injected in the field, use of concomitant burning natural gas or gas produced in other fields. For the production of every five barrels of oil this way is required to burn the gas enclosed in which the energy equivalent to the energy contained in one barrel of oil.
Replacing the combustion of natural gas solar energy technology to Miraah station would save 5.6 trillion BTU (British Thermal Units), which is equivalent to the burning of 151.5 million cubic meters of natural gas. And this energy is equivalent to the energy required to provide 209 thousand people living in Oman. Upon completion Miraah station will consist of 36 long self-cleaning glass “greenhouse”, covering the solar mirrors and protect them from dust and dirt. Construction of the station, the area is 3 square kilometers, will be completed in 2017 and it will cost 600 million US dollars. Daily Miraah station will produce from 5440 to 6000 tons of superheated steam after the commissioning of this plant by 80 percent would reduce natural gas consumption by nearby oil producing complexes.