Development of High Erosivity Well Scale Cleaning Tools

Technical Report · Thu Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1999

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/13837· OSTI ID:13837

Kalumuck, K M ^[1]; Chahine, G L; Frederick, G S; Aley, P D

---

1. Dynaflow, Inc.

Build up of scale deposits on the walls of geothermal wells can occur rapidly due to the high dissolved solids content of geothermal fluids. Scale formation is a significant problem for both the well and for surface heat transfer equipment. Geothermal brines contain a wide variety if dissolved salts including carbonates, silicates, sulfates, and metal sulfides. One technology recently proposed for scale removal is the use of an ultrasonic device. In the present effort we apply cavitation in a more direct manner by the use of acoustically enhanced cavitating water jets which can be made to be much more efficient and aggressive than ultrasonic devices. Cavitating and self-resonating jet technologies have been proven to enhance the erosive power of liquid jets in a number of cutting, cleaning, and drilling applications. In this study we investigated two related technologies - one that employs cavitation and one that breaks the jet up into a series of slugs that produce water hammer type pressures upon impact. These technologies enable operation in both submerged and nonsubmerged conditions.

• Research Organization: USDOE Idaho Operations Office, Idaho Falls, ID (US); Dynaflow, Inc. (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Geothermal Technologies (EE-12) (US)
• DOE Contract Number: FG07-98ID13684
• OSTI ID: 13837
• Report Number(s): DOE/ID/13684
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
CAVITATION
CLEANING
DISSOLVED SOLIDS
GEOTHERMAL BRINES
GEOTHERMAL FLUIDS
GEOTHERMAL WELLS
Geothermal Legacy
HEAT TRANSFER
SCALE DEPOSITS
SELF-RESONATING
ULTRASONIC DEVICE
ULTRASONIC WAVES
WATER HAMMER
WATER JETS