Heat and mass transfer in the Klamath Falls, Oregon, geothermal system

Technical Report · Fri May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1987

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6247658· OSTI ID:6247658

Prucha, R H

Over the last 50 years significant amounts of data have been obtained from the Klamath Falls geothermal resource. To date, the complexity of the system has perplexed researchers, leading to the development of only very generalized hydrogeologic and geothermal models of the area. Based on reevaluation of all available data, a detailed conceptual model for the Klamath Falls geothermal resource is proposed. A comprehensive 3-dimensional numerical model, based on the proposed conceptual model is also presented. This numerical model incorporates all of the main reservoir characteristics. Hot water recharge flows from depth, along a large normal fault, and flows into near surface permeable strata where it loses heat to surrounding beds and to mixing with cold regional groundwaters introduced from the north. By matching calculated and measured temperatures and pressures, hot and cold water recharge rates and the permeability distribution for the geothermal system are estimated. A semi-analytic solution and simple lumped parameter methods are also compared to the numerical analysis. Results suggest that the flow patterns within the geothermal system at Klamath Falls are complex and intimately associated with the permeability distribution and the pressures and temperatures at depth, within the faults.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00098
• OSTI ID: 6247658
• Report Number(s): LBL-23717; ON: DE87014676
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
150201* -- Geology & Hydrology of Geothermal Systems-- USA-- (-1989)
ENERGY TRANSFER
FLUID FLOW
GEOLOGIC MODELS
GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS
Geothermal Legacy
HEAT TRANSFER
KGRA
KLAMATH FALLS
MASS TRANSFER
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
PERMEABILITY
SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS