Injection into a fractured geothermal reservoir

Conference · Thu May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1980

OSTI ID:5355296

Bodvarsson, G S; Tsang, C F

A detailed study is made on the movement of the thermal fronts in the fracture and in the porous medium when 100{sup 0}C water is injected into a 300{sup 0}C geothermal reservoir with equally spaced horizontal fractures. Numerical modeling calculations were made for a number of thermal conductivity values, as well as different values of the ratio of fracture and rock medium permeabilities. One important result is an indication that although initially, the thermal front in the fracture moves very fast relative to the front in the porous medium as commonly expected, its speed rapidly decreases. At some distance from the injection well the thermal fronts in the fracture and the porous medium coincide, and from that point they advance together. The implication of this result on the effects of fractures on reinjection into geothermal reservoirs is discussed.

• Research Organization: California Univ., Berkeley (USA). Lawrence Berkeley Lab.
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 5355296
• Report Number(s): LBL-10983; CONF-800920-23
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
150600* -- Geothermal Energy-- Environmental Aspects
FLUID INJECTION
FRACTURED RESERVOIRS
GEOTHERMAL WELLS
Geothermal Legacy
INJECTION WELLS
MATERIALS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
PERMEABILITY
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
POROUS MATERIALS
REINJECTION
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
WELLS