Modeling study of deep direct use geothermal on the West Virginia university campus-morgantown, WV

Journal Article · Sat Apr 11 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Geothermics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geothermics.2020.101848· OSTI ID:1782181

Zhang, Yingqi ^[1]; Garapati, Nagasree ^[2]; Doughty, Christine ^[1]; Jeanne, Pierre ^[1]

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1. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
2. West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (United States)

To reduce the geothermal exploration risk, a feasibility study is performed for a deep direct-use (DDU) system proposed at the West Virginia University (WVU) Morgantown campus. This study applies numerical simulations to investigate reservoir impedance and thermal production. Because of the great depth of the geothermal reservoir, few data are available to characterize reservoir features and properties. Consequently, the study focuses on the following three aspects: 1. model choice for predicting reservoir impedance and thermal breakthrough: after investigating three potential models (one single permeability model and two dual permeability models) for flow through fractured rock, it is decided only the single permeability model is needed; 2. well placement (horizontal vs. vertical) options: horizontal well placement seems to be more robust to heterogeneity and the impedance is more acceptable; 3. Prediction uncertainty: the most influential parameters are identified using a First-Order-Second-Moment uncertainty propagation analysis, and the uncertain range of the model predictions is estimated by performing a Monte Carlo simulation. Heterogeneity has a large impact on the prediction, therefore, heterogeneity is included in the predictive model and uncertainty analysis. The numerical model results and uncertainty analysis will be used for further economic studies.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Geothermal Technologies Office
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231; EE0008105
• OSTI ID: 1782181
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1821420; OSTI ID: 1632208
• Journal Information: Geothermics, Journal Name: Geothermics Vol. 87; ISSN 0375-6505
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
Deep Direct-use geothermal
Heterogeneity
Numerical simulations
Prediction uncertainty