Heat production from a geothermal reservoir formed by hydraulic fracturing - comparison of field and theoretical results

Conference · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1979 · Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5875487

Murphy, H D; Tester, J W

Results of preliminary heat extraction testing of a prototype hot-dry-rock geothermal energy reservoir are presented. Heat was extracted from the reservoir during closed loop operation using 2 wells, one for injection and one for production. During 75 days of operation, the steady-state flow impedance decreased by a factor of 5 as thermal contraction resulted in the opening of natural joints that provided additional communication with the producing well. Water losses to the rock surrounding the fracture steadily diminished and eventually this loss rate was less than one percent of the injected rate. The geochemistry of the produced fluid was benign and the seismic effects associated with heat extraction were immeasurably small. The average thermal power extracted was 4 MW. Reservoir modeling was performed with a numerical simulator which handles 2-dimensional fluid transport and heat convection equations within the hydraulic fracture which are coupled to the transient heat conduction equation for the rock surrounding the fracture. 12 references.

• OSTI ID: 5875487
• Report Number(s): CONF-790913-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States) Journal Volume: SPE-8265
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
150906* -- Geothermal Engineering-- Reservoir Stimulation & Extraction Technology
CHEMISTRY
COMMINUTION
CONVECTION
ECONOMICS
ENERGY SYSTEMS
ENERGY TRANSFER
FLUID FLOW
FRACTURING
GEOCHEMISTRY
GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS
GEOTHERMAL WELLS
HEAT EXTRACTION
HEAT TRANSFER
HOT-DRY-ROCK SYSTEMS
HYDRAULIC FRACTURING
INJECTION WELLS
MASS TRANSFER
PERMEABILITY
SIMULATION
STEADY FLOW
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
WELLS