Three-dimensional seismic characterization and imaging of the Soda Lake geothermal field

Journal Article · Sat Nov 21 00:00:00 EST 2020 · Geothermics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geothermics.2020.101996· OSTI ID:1727415

Gao, Kai ^[1]; Huang, Lianjie ^[1]; Cladouhos, Trenton ^[2]

---

1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
2. Cyrq Energy, Inc., Seattle, WA (United States)

Accurate characterization of subsurface geophysical properties and detection of the fault system are essential for geothermal energy exploration and production. The Soda Lake geothermal field is in western Nevada with a complex fault system. Previous seismic characterization only produced a low-resolution, smooth velocity model along with a simple, conceptual fault model. Using optimized correlation-based full-waveform inversion, wavefield-separation-based reverse-time migration, and automatic fault detection techniques, we present 3D seismic characterization for the Soda Lake geothermal field using 3D surface seismic data acquired with Vibroseis sources. Here, we obtain 3D high-resolution velocity, density, and acoustic impedance models, 3D seismic images with different grid spacings, and a high-resolution fault system. Consistency check between the constructed faults and currently active injection and production geothermal wells verifies that our seismic inversion and imaging results and detected faults are reliable. These results can provide valuable information for optimizing well placement and geothermal energy production at the Soda Lake geothermal field.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). Geothermal Technologies Office (EE-4G)
• Grant/Contract Number: 89233218CNA000001
• OSTI ID: 1727415
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1895484
• Report Number(s): LA-UR--20-26342
• Journal Information: Geothermics, Journal Name: Geothermics Journal Issue: C Vol. 90; ISSN 0375-6505
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
Fault detection
Full-waveform inversion
Reverse-time migration
Soda Lake geothermal field
Surface seismic data