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Title: Evaluation of inert tracers in a bedrock fracture using ground penetrating radar and thermal sensors

Abstract

The spatial distribution of fracture/matrix heat exchange was measured while hot water was circulated through a single bedding plane fracture in shallow bedrock. The field site is interpreted here as a simple model for a geothermal reservoir. Here, thermal breakthrough was recorded at the production well and Fiber-Optic Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) monitored temperature in the rock matrix. Conservative tracer tests revealed that the reservoir fluid volume in two separate experiments were nearly identical. Thermal breakthrough measurements, however, revealed that reservoir fluid volume did not correlate to thermal performance because the two experiments encountered different effective areas of heat transfer along the fracture. Ground Penetrating Radar imaging of subsurface tracer transport and DTS corroborate these findings.a cold reservoir

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)
  2. California State Univ. (CalState), Long Beach, CA (United States)
  3. Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Technology Development (EE-20)
OSTI Identifier:
1843952
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1413858
Grant/Contract Number:  
EE0006764
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Geothermics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 67; Journal ID: ISSN 0375-6505
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
58 GEOSCIENCES; Tracer testing; Ground penetrating radar; Flow channeling; Fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing; Thermal breakthrough

Citation Formats

Hawkins, Adam J., Becker, Matthew W., and Tsoflias, Georgios P. Evaluation of inert tracers in a bedrock fracture using ground penetrating radar and thermal sensors. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1016/j.geothermics.2017.01.006.
Hawkins, Adam J., Becker, Matthew W., & Tsoflias, Georgios P. Evaluation of inert tracers in a bedrock fracture using ground penetrating radar and thermal sensors. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geothermics.2017.01.006
Hawkins, Adam J., Becker, Matthew W., and Tsoflias, Georgios P. Tue . "Evaluation of inert tracers in a bedrock fracture using ground penetrating radar and thermal sensors". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geothermics.2017.01.006. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1843952.
@article{osti_1843952,
title = {Evaluation of inert tracers in a bedrock fracture using ground penetrating radar and thermal sensors},
author = {Hawkins, Adam J. and Becker, Matthew W. and Tsoflias, Georgios P.},
abstractNote = {The spatial distribution of fracture/matrix heat exchange was measured while hot water was circulated through a single bedding plane fracture in shallow bedrock. The field site is interpreted here as a simple model for a geothermal reservoir. Here, thermal breakthrough was recorded at the production well and Fiber-Optic Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) monitored temperature in the rock matrix. Conservative tracer tests revealed that the reservoir fluid volume in two separate experiments were nearly identical. Thermal breakthrough measurements, however, revealed that reservoir fluid volume did not correlate to thermal performance because the two experiments encountered different effective areas of heat transfer along the fracture. Ground Penetrating Radar imaging of subsurface tracer transport and DTS corroborate these findings.a cold reservoir},
doi = {10.1016/j.geothermics.2017.01.006},
journal = {Geothermics},
number = ,
volume = 67,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Feb 07 00:00:00 EST 2017},
month = {Tue Feb 07 00:00:00 EST 2017}
}

Journal Article:

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 18 works
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Works referencing / citing this record:

Dipole and Convergent Single-Well Thermal Tracer Tests for Characterizing the Effect of Flow Configuration on Thermal Recovery
journal, October 2019


Thermal Attenuation and Lag Time in Fractured Rock: Theory and Field Measurements From Joint Heat and Solute Tracer Tests
journal, December 2018

  • La Bernardie, J.; Bour, O.; Le Borgne, T.
  • Water Resources Research, Vol. 54, Issue 12
  • DOI: 10.1029/2018wr023199

Solute tracer test quantification of the effects of hot water injection into hydraulically stimulated crystalline rock
journal, June 2020


Simulation research on the reinjection temperature fields of deep geothermal wells based on real-scale experiment
journal, October 2018


Solute tracer test quantification of the effects of hot water injection into hydraulically stimulated crystalline rock
text, January 2020


Revisiting the Analytical Solutions of Heat Transport in Fractured Reservoirs Using a Generalized Multirate Memory Function
journal, February 2019

  • Zhou, Quanlin; Oldenburg, Curtis M.; Rutqvist, Jonny
  • Water Resources Research, Vol. 55, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1029/2018wr024150