The performance of the 1986 three-dimensional numerical model of the Nesjavellir geothermal field for predicting the deliverabilities and pressure decline of the wells during the period 1987 through 1991 is investigated. The model predicted adequately the flow rate and enthalpy transients of most wells, but overpredicted the pressure decline by 3 to 4 bars.

Estimates of temperatures, past and present, in geothermal reservoirs can be made by using now standard mineralogical techniques, including fluid inclusion geothermometry, vitrinite reflectance, calc-silicate and clay occurrence, the extent of clay interlayering, and measuring clay crystallinity. Recent studies of clays in 60 drillcores from 6 wells at Wairakei, for example, show an inverse relationship between reservoir temperatures and crystallinities from 90&deg; to 225&deg;C (195 to 435°F) (K&uuml;bler Indices: 1.40 to 0.44 <FONT FACE="Symbol">D</FONT>&deg;2<FONT FACE="Symbol">q</FONT>). Fluid inclusion geothermometry results require careful interpretation but the method need not be calibrated with respect to the reservoir, as do other geothermometric methods.

It presents a systematic methodology to evaluate the reservoir characteristics of Chipilapa- Ahuachapan geothermal field through the highly diluted natural manifestations (springs and domestic wells) in its surroundings. The manifestations are classified in three main groups according to their mechanism of formation: high salinity water (HSW), medium salinity water (MSW), and Sulfated Water (SW). The reservoir temperature at Chipilapa geothermal field is around 220°C which is estimated with application of various chemical geothermometers. The isotopic studies indicate that the heating of local meteoric water with the separated steam of deep reservoir fluids is a dominating process in the formation of springs and domestic wells fluids. The process of formation of primary and secondary vapor explains the isotopic composition of fumaroles.

The Bulalo geothermal field, located in Laguna province, Philippines, supplies 12% of the electricity on the island of Luzon. The first 110 MWe power plant was on line May 1979; current 330 MWe (gross) installed capacity was reached in 1984. Since then, the field has operated at an average plant factor of 76%. The National Power Corporation plans to add 40 MWe base load and 40 MWe standby in 1995. A numerical simulation model for the Bulalo field has been created that matches historic pressure changes, enthalpy and steam flash trends and cumulative steam production. Gravity modeling provided independent verification of mass balances and time rate of change of liquid desaturation in the rock matrix. Gravity modeling, in conjunction with reservoir simulation provides a means of predicting matrix dry out and the time to limiting conditions for sustainable levelized steam deliverability and power generation.

Adsorption is potentially an important consideration when calculating reserves at The Geysers. Our investigations of the mineralogical relationships in core samples have shown matrix pore spaces to be largely associated with fractures. Dissolution of calcite from hydrothermal veins increases porosity in the graywacke reservoir. The high relative surface area of secondary alteration phases could promote adsorption. In order to quantify porosity distribution and surface area, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images were analyzed using software developed for the interpretation of satellite imagery, This software classifies the images as either crystal or pore and then accumulates data on pore size, total porosity and surface area of the mineral-pore interface. Review of literature shows that data on thickness of adsorbed water layer does not exist for many of the mineral phases of interest in The Geysers. We have assumed thicknesses of 10, 100, and 5300 Angstroms for the adsorbed layer and calculated the relative proportions of adsorbed water. These calculations show 0.005%, 0.05%, and 2.5% of total water would be adsorbed using the above thicknesses.

A general empirical correlation for estimating the intrinsic dissolution rate of quartz in pure water from 25” to 625°C was presented. Data obtained from five different apparatus in this study correlated favorably to rate measurements reported by seven other research groups using both nominal and BET-determined surface area bases. More than eleven orders of magnitude of variation of dissolution rate occur over a 600°C temperature change exhibiting Arrhenius-like behavior with a global activation energy of about 97 kJ/mol SiO₂. Discrepancies in low temperature (25°C) measurements were resolved by waiting sufficiently long to permit annealing processes to produce a “steady-state” dissolving surface.

Using thermodynamic gas equilibria to calculate temperature and steam fraction in the reservoir, three main physical phenomena due to exploitation of Palinpinon field are identified. 1) Pressure drawdown producing a local increase in the computed steam fraction, with the fluid maintaining high temperature values (close to 300°C). Strong decline in flow rate is observed. 2) Irreversible steam losses from the original high temperature liquid phase during its ascent through fractures in upper zones of the reservoir. Steam is generally lost at temperatures (e.g. 240°C) lower then those of the original aquifer. 3) Dilution and cooling effects due to reinjection fluid returns. These are function of the local geostructural conditions linking through fractures the injectors and production wells. The computed fraction of the recovered reinjected brine can in some case exceed 80% of the total produced fluid. At the same time the computed gas equilibration temperatures can decline from 280-300°C to as low as 215-220°C. Comparing these values with the well bottom measured temperatures, the proposed methodology based on gas chemistry gives more reliable temperature estimate than water chemistry based geothermometers for fluids with high fractions of injected brine.

A detailed three-dimensional numerical model has been developed for the low-temperature hydrothermal system at Botn in Central North Iceland. It is based on a conceptual reservoir model which has evolved during two decades of geothermal research in the area and on the 10 year production history of the system. The model consists of (1) A powerful recharge system at depth, (2) a shallow production reservoir and (3) a cold ground-water system at the surface. About 10 million tons of hot water have been extracted from the production reservoir since late 1981. The presence of the powerful recharge system results in a very slow long-term pressure decline. Flow of water in the production reservoir appears to be controlled by a highly permeable, vertical fracture-zone confined by low-permeability rocks. Cold ground-water flows down into the fracture-zone during production causing some cooling of the extracted water.

A new type of dual-porosity model is being developed to simulate two-phase flow processes in fractured geothermal reservoirs. At this time it is assumed that the liquid phase in the matrix blocks remains immobile. By utilizing the effective compressibility of a two-phase water/steam mixture in a porous rock, flow within the matrix blocks can be modeled by a single diffusion equation. This equation in turn is replaced by a nonlinear ordinary differential equation that utilizes the mean pressure and mean saturation in the matrix blocks to calculate the rate of fluid flow between the matrix blocks and fractures. This equation has been incorporated into the numerical simulator TOUGH to serve as a source/sink term for computational gridblocks that represent the fracture system. The new method has been compared with solutions obtained using fully-discretized matrix blocks, on a problem involving a three-dimensional vapor-dominated reservoir containing an injection and a production well, and has been found to be quite accurate.

Reported here is the progress on the Development of Biological Coal Gasification for DOE contract No. DE-AC21-90MC27226 MOD A006. Task 1, NEPA Compliance and Updated Test Plan has been completed. Progress toward Task 2, Enhanced Methane Production, is reported in the areas of bacterial strain improvement, addition of co-substrates, and low cost nutrient amendment. Conclusions reached as a result of this work are presented. Plans for future work are briefly outlined.

Single crystal silicon has been the material of choice for x-ray monochromators for the past several decades. However, the need for suitable monochromators to handle the high heat load of the next generation synchrotron x-ray beams on the one hand and the rapid and on-going advances in synthetic diamond technology on the other make a compelling case for the consideration of a diamond monochromator system. In this paper, we consider various aspects, advantages and disadvantages, and promises and pitfalls of such a system and evaluate the comparative performance of a diamond monochromator subjected to the high heat load of the most powerful x-ray beam that will become available in the next few years. The results of experiments performed to evaluate the diffraction properties of a currently available synthetic single crystal diamond are also presented. Fabrication of a diamond-based monochromator is within present technical means.

PREFACE The Eighteenth Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering was held at Stanford University on January 26-28, 1993. There were one hundred and seventeen registered participants which was greater than the attendance last year. Participants were from eight foreign countries: Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, Guatemala, and Iceland. Performance of many geothermal fields outside the United States was described in several of the papers. Dean Gary Ernst opened the meeting and welcomed the visitors to the campus. The key note speaker was J.E. ''Ted'' Mock who gave a brief overview of the Department of Energy's current plan. The Stanford Geothermal Program Reservoir Engineering Award for Excellence in Development of Geothermal Energy was awarded to Dr. Mock who also spoke at the banquet. Thirty-nine papers were presented at the Workshop with two papers submitted for publication only. Technical papers were organized in twelve sessions concerning: field operations, The Geysers, geoscience, hot-dry-rock, injection, modeling, slim hole wells, geochemistry, well test and wellbore. Session chairmen were major contributors to the program and we thank: John Counsil, Kathleen Enedy, Harry Olson, Eduardo Iglesias, Marcelo Lippmann, Paul Atkinson, Jim Lovekin, Marshall Reed, Antonio Correa, and David Faulder. The Workshop was organized by …

The Energy Policy Act of 1992 embraces and implements many of the actions recommended by the President in the National Energy Strategy. Independent geothermal power producers may be direct beneficiaries of 1) further deregulation of IPPs through their exemption from the provisions of the Public Utility Holding Company Act and 2) potentially freer access to utility-owned transmission facilities. However, these doors will not be fully opened to geothermal energy until this resource can compete with other fuels in cost considerations. While changes in public policy, such as inclusion of externalities in the price of power or financial penalties on carbon dioxide emissions, will level the playing field somewhat, reductions in cost will be the ultimate marketing tool. This is particularly critical in the economics of power derived from "new," as yet undiscovered reservoirs which will reflect the high costs of today's exploration methods. The Department of Energy's geothermal R&D program, in cooperation with industry, is undertaking, as described in this paper, to achieve the technology cost reductions needed to permit this resource to enjoy a status equal to or better than that of competing fuels at the utility least-cost bargaining table.

A new technique has been developed for the measurement of steam mass flowrate, water mass flowrate and total enthalpy of two-phase fluids produced from geothermal wells. The method involves precisely metered injection of liquid and vapor phase tracers into the two-phase production pipeline and concurrent sampling of each phase downstream of the injection point. Subsequent chemical analysis of the steam and water samples for tracer content enables the calculation of mass flowrate for each phase given the known mass injection rates of tracer. This technique has now been used extensively at the Coso geothermal project, owned and operated by California Energy Company. Initial validation of the method was performed at the Roosevelt Hot Springs geothermal project on wells producing to individual production separators equipped with orificeplate flowmeters for each phase.

Gas chemistry from 28 wells complement water chemistry and physical data in developing a reservoir model for the Bacon-Manito geothermal project (BMGP), Philippines. Reservoir temperature, T_HSH, and steam fraction, y, are calculated or extrapolated from the grid defined by the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) and H₂-H₂S (HSH) gas equilibria reactions. A correction is made for H₂ that is lost due to preferential partitioning into the vapor phase and the reequilibration of H₂S after steam loss.

Experimental isotherms of water vapor adsorption/desorption on three geothermal reservoir rock samples have been measured at temperatures of 80, 100, 120 and 140°C. Initial surface status of the sample was found to influence the amount of water adsorbed. At low relative pressures, adsorption is the dominant process of water retention onto the rock samples. Adsorption/desorption hysteresis was observed to exist over the whole pressure range at all temperatures. Similar observations were made for all three samples. The results of this study suggest that adsorption is important in storing water in geothermal reservoir rocks not only in itself, but also in inducing capillary condensation.

A new equation-of-state module has been developed for the TOUGH2 simulator, belonging to the MULKOM family of computer codes developed at LBL. This EOS module is able to handle three-component mixtures of water, sodium chloride, and a non-condensible gas. It can describe liquid and gas phases, and includes precipitation and dissolution of solid salt. The dependence of density, viscosity, enthalpy, and vapor pressure of brine on salt concentration is taken into account, as well as the effects of salinity on gas solubility in the liquid phase and related heat of solution. The main assumptions made in developing this EOS module are discussed, together with the correlations employed to calculate the thermophysical properties of multiphase multicomponent mixtures. At present the non-condensible gas can be chosen to be air, CO₂, CH₄, H₂, or N₂. This paper focuses on H₂O-NaCI-CO₂ mixtures and describes new correlations obtained from fitting of published experimental data. Illustrative results for geothermal reservoir depletion in the presence of salinity and non-condensible gas are presented. We demonstrate and analyze effects of vapor pressure lowering and gas solubility decrease from salinity, and loss of reservoir porosity and permeability from salt precipitation during boiling of brines.

As a new modeling procedure of geothermal energy extraction systems, the authors present two dimensional and three dimensional modeling techniques of subsurface fracture network, based on fractal geometry. Fluid flow in fractured rock occurs primarily through a connected network of discrete fractures. The fracture network approach, therefore, seeks to model fluid flow and heat transfer through such rocks directly. Recent geophysical investigations have revealed that subsurface fracture networks can be described by "fractal geometry". In this paper, a modeling procedure of subsurface fracture network is proposed based on fractal geometry. Models of fracture networks are generated by distributing fractures randomly, following the fractal relation between fracture length r and the number of fractures N expressed with fractal dimension D as N =C&middot;r^-D, where C is a constant to signify the fracture density of the rock mass. This procedure makes it possible to characterize geothermal reservoirs by the parameters measured from field data, such as core sampling. In this characterization, the fractal dimension D and the fracture density parameter C of a geothermal reservoir are used as parameters to model the subsurface fracture network. Using this model, the transmissivities between boreholes are also obtained as a function of the fracture density …

In experiments at 600°C in the system NaCI-KCI-H₂O, within the analytical uncertainty, stoichiometric quantities of Cl and total alkali metals (Na+K) appear to dissolve in steam coexisting with chloride-rich brine at high pressures in the absence of solid salt. In contrast, at lower pressures, where steam coexists with precipitated salts, significant excess chloride as associated hydrogen chloride (HCI&deg;) dissolves in steam. The HCI&deg; appears to be generated by the reaction of solid NaCl(s) (halite) with steam, producing solid NaOH(s) that diffuses into halite, forming a solid solution. Where HCI&deg; is present highly associated NaOH&deg; as well as associated NaCI&deg; appear to dissolve in steam, and the solubility of each is increased as the mole fraction of NaOH(s) in halite increases. In our quasi-static experiments, compared to dynamic flow-through experiments of others, higher initial ratios of H₂O/NaCI have resulted in higher mole fractions of NaOH(s) in solid solution in halite and, accordingly, higher solubilities of NaCI" and NaOH" dissolved in steam. Addition of quartz to the system NaCI-KCI-H₂O results in the formation of sodium disilicate by reaction of silica with NaOH(s) and an order of magnitude increase in the concentration of HCl&deg; dissolved in steam. In natural hydrothermal systems at lower …

Methods of tracing reservoir processes will be discussed and applied to the NCPA Geysers steam field. The gas and isotope chemistry of produced steam is far from uniform even in a restricted volume of the reservoir. The composition is affected by many factors. Differences in permeability, local existence of gas pockets or perched liquid and the pattern of fracture connection can cause neighboring wells to produce steam of different compositions. This study attempts to separate local effects from general influences by viewing the data across the field and over a period of time. The fits of the trend lines to the data are far from perfect but present a reasonably consistent picture.

The Geothermal Data Management System (GEOSYS) has been developed to allow storage, retrieval, and analysis of the large volume of data associated with a geothermal reservoir, including well drilling data, well log data, production (chemical and flow) data, and geographical data. The system allows the user to display overlays of well locations, faults, and surface features on maps or topographic images. Subsurface cross-sections can be displayed by selecting any two points on the map. Cross sections show subsurface topography together with the projections of wells along the cross section. The structure ofeach individual well can also be displayed in detail. Downhole well logs can be selected, displayed, and expanded to arbitrary scale. Time histories of production data can be displayed for the field and for each well. Data from the Cerro Prieto geothermal field has been used for development and testing of the system. This type of system has been made possible by recent advances in hardware and software technology, and the dramatic reduction in cost of high speed workstations and disk storage. GEOSYS was developed using the X Window System and the OSF/Motif widget set. The X Window System was designed specifically to provide hardware independence for interactive systems …

The data from flow tests which employed two different production zones in a well at Fenton Hill indicates the flow impedance of a wellbore zone damaged by rapid depressurization was altered, possibly by pressure spallation, which appears to have mechanically propped the joint apertures of outlet flow paths intersecting the altered wellbore. The rapid depressurization and subsequent flow test data derived from the damaged well has led to the hypothesis that pressure spallation and the resultant mechanical propping of outlet flow paths reduced the outlet flow impedance of the damaged wellbore. Furthermore, transient pressure data shows the largest pressure drop between the injection and production wellheads occurs near the production wellbore, so lowering the outlet impedance by increasing the apertures of outlet flow paths will have the greatest effect on reducing the overall reservoir impedance. Fenton Hill data also reveals that increasing the overall reservoir pressure dilates the apertures of flow paths, which likewise serves to reduce the reservoir impedance. Data suggests that either pressure dilating the wellbore connected joints with high production wellhead pressure, or mechanically propping open the outlet flow paths will increase the near-wellbore permeability. Finally, a new method for calculating and comparing near-wellbore outlet impedances has …

A managed injection program implemented by the NCPA in The Southeast Geysers reservoir continues to positively impact reservoir performance. Injection effects are determined by the application of geochemical and geophysical techniques to track the movement of injectate. This information, when integrated with reservoir pressure, flowrate, and thermodynamic data, is used to quantify the overall performance and efficiency of the injection program. Data analysis indicates that injected water is boiling near the injection wells, without deeper migration, and is recovered as superheated steam from nearby production wells. Injection derived steam (IDS) currently accounts for 25 to 35 percent of total production in the NCPA steamfield. Most importantly, 80 to 100% of the injectate is flashing and being recovered as steam. The amount of IDS has increased since 1988 due to both a change in injection strategy and a drying out of the reservoir. However, significant areas of the reservoir still remain relatively unaffected by injection because of the limited amount of injectate presently available. That the reservoir has been positively impacted in the injection areas is evidenced by a decrease in the rate of pressure decline from 1989 through 1992. Correspondingly, there has been a reduction in the rate of steam …

When liquid is injected into a geothermal reservoir, a fraction of the liquid may vaporise if the reservoir is sufficiently hot. The vapour forms at an approximately planar liquid-vapour interface and diffuses towards the far boundary of the reservoir. If vapour is extracted from the far boundary, then once the new vapour has diffused across the reservoir, the rate of production of vapour at the liquid-vapour interface approximately balances the rate of extraction. We find that if the pressure at the injection pump and extraction well is fixed, then the fraction of the liquid which vaporises and the rate of extraction of vapour from the reservoir increase with time. However, the rate at which liquid is pumped into the reservoir inay initially decrease but subsequently increases with time, if a sufficient fraction of the liquid vaporises. If the mass flux of liquid injected into the reservoir is fixed, then again both the fraction of the liquid which vaporises and the mass flux of vapour which may be extracted increase with time. In this case, the pressure at the injection pump may increase but subsequently decreases with time, again if a sufficient fraction of the liquid vaporises.