Development of hot dry rock resources

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1978

OSTI ID:7012429

Pettitt, R A; Tester, J W

The LASL Hot Dry Rock Geothermal Energy Project is the only U.S. field test of this geothermal resource. In the LASL concept, a man-made geothermal reservoir would be formed by drilling a deep hole into relatively impermeable hot rock, creating a large surface area for heat transfer by fracturing the rock hydraulically, then drilling a second hole to intersect the fracture to complete the circulation loop. In 1974, the first hole was drilled to a depth of 2929 m (9610 ft) and a hydraulic fracture was produced near the bottom. In 1975, a second hole was directionally drilled to intersect the fracture. Although the desired intersection was not achieved, a connection was made through which water was circulated. After a year's study of the fracture system, drilling began again in April 1977 and an improved connection was achieved. In September of 1977 a 5 MW (thermal) heat extraction and circulation experiment was conducted for 100 h as a preliminary test of the concept. An 1800-h circulation experiment was concluded on April 13, 1978 to determine temperature-drawdown, permeation water loss and flow characteristics of the pressurized reservoir, to examine chemistry changes in the circulating fluid, and to monitor for induced seismic effects.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos Scientific Lab., NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 7012429
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-78-1336; CONF-780572-1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
150901 -- Geothermal Engineering-- Drilling Technology & Well Hardware
150906* -- Geothermal Engineering-- Reservoir Stimulation & Extraction Technology
BOREHOLES
CAVITIES
COMMINUTION
DOCUMENT TYPES
DRILLING
ENERGY SOURCE DEVELOPMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FLUID FLOW
FRACTURED RESERVOIRS
FRACTURING
GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS
Geothermal Legacy
HEAT EXTRACTION
HIGH TEMPERATURE
HOT-DRY-ROCK SYSTEMS
HYDRAULIC FRACTURING
PERMEABILITY
RESERVOIR ROCK
REVIEWS
ROCKS
SEISMIC EFFECTS
TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT
TESTING
WELL DRILLING