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Analysis of thermally induced permeability enhancement in geothermal injection wells

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6983571
Reinjection of spent geothermal brine is a common means of disposing of geothermal effluents and maintaining reservoir pressures. Contrary to the predictions of two-fluid models (two-viscosity) of nonisothermal injection, an increase of injectivity, with continued injection, is often observed. Injectivity enhancement and thermally-affected pressure transients are particularly apparent in short-term injection tests at the Los Azufres Geothermal Field, Mexico. During an injection test, it is not uncommon to observe that after an initial pressure increase, the pressure decreases with time. As this typically occurs far below the pressure at which hydraulic fracturing is expected, some other mechanism for increasing the near-bore permeability must explain the observed behavior. This paper focuses on calculating the magnitude of the nearbore permeability changes observed in several nonisothermal injection tests conducted at the Los Azufres Geothermal Field.
Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA); Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, Cuernavaca (Mexico)
DOE Contract Number:
AC03-76SF00098
OSTI ID:
6983571
Report Number(s):
LBL-23022; CONF-870136-6; ON: DE87007613
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English