Hot Dry Rock Geothermal Energy Development Program

Technical Report · Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 1989

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5328390· OSTI ID:5328390

Smith, M C; Hendron, R H; Murphy, H D; Wilson, M G

During Fiscal Year 1987, emphasis in the Hot Dry Rock Geothermal Energy Development Program was on preparations for a Long-Term Flow Test'' of the Phase II'' or Engineering'' hot dry rock energy system at Fenton Hill, New Mexico. A successful 30-day flow test of the system during FY86 indicated that such a system would produce heat at a temperature and rate that could support operation of a commercial electrical power plant. However, it did not answer certain questions basic to the economics of long-term operation, including the rate of depletion of the thermal reservoir, the rate of water loss from the system, and the possibility of operating problems during extended continuous operation. Preparations for a one-year flow test of the system to answer these and more fundamental questions concerning hot dry rock systems were made in FY87: design of the required surface facilities; procurement and installation of some of their components; development and testing of slimline logging tools for use through small-diameter production tubing; research on temperature-sensitive reactive chemical tracers to monitor thermal depletion of the reservoir; and computer simulations of the 30-day test, extended to modeling the planned Long-Term Flow Test. 45 refs., 34 figs., 5 tabs.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/CE
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 5328390
• Report Number(s): LA-11717-HDR; ON: DE90005690
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
BOREHOLES
CONSTRUCTION
DESIGN
DRILLING EQUIPMENT
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FAILURE MODE ANALYSIS
FLUID FLOW
HEAT TRANSFER
IMPLEMENTATION
NEW MEXICO
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PLANNING
PROGRESS REPORT
RECOMMENDATIONS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
ROCK MECHANICS
SITE CHARACTERIZATION
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
THERMAL FATIGUE
TRACER TECHNIQUES
TUBES
CAVITIES
DATA
DOCUMENT TYPES
ENERGY TRANSFER
EQUIPMENT
FATIGUE
FEDERAL REGION VI
INFORMATION
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
MECHANICS
NORTH AMERICA
NUMERICAL DATA
RESOURCES
SYSTEM FAILURE ANALYSIS
SYSTEMS ANALYSIS
TESTING
USA
Geothermal Legacy
150100* - Geothermal Energy- Resources & Availability
150801 - Geothermal Power Plants- Design & Operation