Numerical studies of cold water injection into vapor-dominated geothermal systems
Recent reservoir pressure and steam flow rate declines at The Geysers geothermal field in California have attracted interest in studies of increased cold water injection into this system. In this paper, numerical studies of such injection into a fractured vapor-dominated reservoir are conducted using a two-dimensional radial, double-porosity model. The results obtained indicate that cold water injection into superheated (low-pressure) zones will greatly enhance the productivities of steam wells. Injection into two-phase zones with significant liquid reserves in the matrix blocks does not appear to aid in steam recovery until most of the original liquid reserves are depleted. Sensitivity studies are conducted over the range of fracture and matrix permeabilities applicable to the Geysers. The sensitivity of the grid size is also conducted, and shows very large grid effects. A fine vertical space discretization near the bottom of the reservoir is necessary to accurately predict the boiling of the injected water. 28 refs., 15 figs., 3 tabs.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- CASLC; USDOE; California State Lands Commission, Sacramento, CA (USA); USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC03-76SF00098
- OSTI ID:
- 5850493
- Report Number(s):
- LBL-30173; CONF-910308-1; ON: DE91012295
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Western regional meeting and exhibition of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Long Beach, CA (USA), 20-22 Mar 1991
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
GEOLOGIC MODELS
M CODES
GEYSERS GEOTHERMAL FIELD
FLUID INJECTION
FRACTURES
GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
PERMEABILITY
POROSITY
SENSITIVITY
SIMULATION
STEAM GENERATION
SUPERHEATING
TWO-PHASE FLOW
WATER
COMPUTER CODES
FAILURES
FLUID FLOW
GEOTHERMAL FIELDS
HEATING
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
Geothermal Legacy
150906* - Geothermal Engineering- Reservoir Stimulation & Extraction Technology
150902 - Geothermal Engineering- Fluid Transmission
150904 - Geothermal Engineering- Geothermal Reservoir & Well Performance
990200 - Mathematics & Computers