Natural convection in a multi layered geothermal reservoir

Journal Article · Wed Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1979 · J. Heat Transfer; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3450989· OSTI ID:5946389

Rana, R; Horne, R N; Cheng, P

The effect of layered structure of rock formation on free convection in a geothermal reservoir is investigated in this work. The model examined is that of a rectangular reservoir comprised of three horizontal permeable layers with different permeabilities. The reservoir is considered to be bounded by impermeable surfaces on the sides and at the bottom. The upper boundary of the aquifer is permeable, which permits the recharge and discharge of water to and from the aquifer. A transient two-dimensional convective flow is developed when the impermeable boundaries are raised suddenly to high temperatures. The governing nonlinear partial differential equations with appropriate boundary and initial conditions are solved numerically by finite difference methods. Application of the direct method for solving Poisson's equation for stream function made it possible to carry out the solution for a much longer time than possible with iterative techniques. Numerical results are obtained for various parameters and configurations of the geothermal reservoir. The influence of a less permeable middle layer on the flow and heat transfer characteristics in the aquifer is discussed. The computed vertical temperature profiles are similar in shape to the complex temperature profiles observed at the HGP-A well.

• Research Organization: Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Hawall, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822
• OSTI ID: 5946389
• Journal Information: J. Heat Transfer; (United States), Journal Name: J. Heat Transfer; (United States) Vol. 101:3; ISSN JHTRA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
150904* -- Geothermal Engineering-- Geothermal Reservoir & Well Performance
BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
CONVECTION
ENERGY
ENERGY SOURCES
FINITE DIFFERENCE METHOD
GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
ITERATIVE METHODS
LAYERS
NATURAL CONVECTION
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
PERMEABILITY
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
RESERVOIR ROCK
ROCKS
TRANSIENTS