Tracing fluid flow in geothermal reservoirs

Conference · Wed Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1997

OSTI ID:604259

Rose, P E; Adams, M C ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)

A family of fluorescent compounds, the polycyclic aromatic sulfonates, were evaluated for application in intermediate- and high-temperature geothermal reservoirs. Whereas the naphthalene sulfonates were found to be very thermally stable and reasonably detectable, the amino-substituted naphthalene sulfonates were found to be somewhat less thermally stable, but much more detectable. A tracer test was conducted at the Dixie Valley, Nevada, geothermal reservoir using one of the substituted naphthalene sulfonates, amino G, and fluorescein. Four of 9 production wells showed tracer breakthrough during the first 200 days of the test. Reconstructed tracer return curves are presented that correct for the thermal decay of tracer assuming an average reservoir temperature of 227{degrees}C. In order to examine the feasibility of using numerical simulation to model tracer flow, we developed simple, two-dimensional models of the geothermal reservoir using the numerical simulation programs TETRAD and TOUGH2. By fitting model outputs to measured return curves, we show that numerical reservoir simulations can be calibrated with the tracer data. Both models predict the same order of elution, approximate tracer concentrations, and return curve shapes. Using these results, we propose a method for using numerical models to design a tracer test.

• Research Organization: USDOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Washington, DC (United States)
• OSTI ID: 604259
• Report Number(s): DOE/EE--0139; CONF-970376--; ON: DE98001891
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
58 GEOSCIENCES
FIELD TESTS
FLUID FLOW
GEOCHEMISTRY
GEOTHERMAL FLUIDS
GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES
GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS
Geothermal Legacy
NEVADA
RESERVOIR FLUIDS
RESERVOIR ROCK
TRACER TECHNIQUES