A single-box-model numerical simulator for personal computer analysis was developed in order to estimate macroscopic parameter values for exploited geothermal reservoirs and essential fluids coming from the depth. The simulator was designed to compute history data concerning total production and reinjection fluids at geothermal power plants from the assumed parameter values, based on conservation laws for water mass, heat energy and masses of conservative chemical constituents of geothermal fluids. Using two kinds of forward analysis techniques, i.e. the cast-net and pursuit methods, programs containing the simulator can semiautomatically select the optimum combination of the unknown parameter values by minimizing the differences between the simulated and measured history data for specific enthalpy and chemical compositions of the production fluids. The forward analysis programs were applied to the history data from the Onuma geothermal power plant (production capacity, 10MWe) where waste hot water reinjection, chemical monitoring and artificial tracer tests have been conducted since 1970, almost the beginning of the geothermal exploitation. Using the history data, enthalpy and iodine concentrations of the total production fluids with the amounts of KI tracer injected as spikes, the macroscopic parameter values for the exploited reservoir and the essential hot water from the depth were uniquely …

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.

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.

A vapor-dominated two-phase zone would be formed in a geothermal reservoir under fissured caprock, if the permeability of the fissure is much smaller than a critical permeability which is estimated by an energy balance. If the permeability of the fissure is large, then the rule of minimum mass input would be applied.

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.

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.

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.

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·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 …

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.

There are two reservoirs with different temperature and permeability in the Kakkonda hydrothermal system. The shallow reservoir is permeable and 230 to 260°C, while the deep reservoir is less permeable and 350 to 360°C. However, they are hydraulically connected each other. Recent drilling of deep wells revealed existence of Pre- Tertiary formation below Tertiary formations and neogranitic pluton younger than 5Ma. This pluton is a heat source of metamorphism found in Pre-Tertiary and Tertiary formations. There is a permeable horizon at the top of the pluton, and is very productive. To date, 4 production wells have been completed in this deep reservoir.

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 program was designed to allow the study of the effects of several parameters on the injection of water into and production of fluid from a fractured low porosity geothermal reservoir with properties similar to those at The Geysers. Fractures were modeled explicitly with low porosity, high permeability blocks rather than with a dual-porosity formulation to gain insight into the effects of single fractures. A portion of a geothermal reservoir with physical characteristics similar to those at the Geysers geothermal field was constructed by simulating a single fracture bounded by porous matrix. A series of simulation runs were made.using this system as a basis. Reservoir superheat prior to injection, injection temperature, angle of fracture inclination, fracture/matrix permeability contrast, fracture and matrix relative permeability, and the capillary pressure curves in both fracture and matrix were varied and the effects on production were compared. Analysis of the effects of these parameter variations led to qualitative conclusions about injection and production characteristics at the Geysers. The degree of superheat prior to water injection was found to significantly affect the production from geothermal reservoirs. A high degree of superheat prior to injection increases the enthalpy of the produced fluid and causes the cumulative produced …

This paper summarizes an ongoing numerical modeling effort aimed at describing some of the thermodynamic conditions observed in vapor-dominated reservoirs, including the formation of a high temperature reservoir (HTR) beneath the "typical" reservoir. The modeled system begins as a hot water geothermal reservoir, and evolves through time into a vapor-dominated reservoir with a HTR at depth. This approach taken here to develop a vapor-dominated system is similar to that of Pruess (1985), and involves induced boiling through venting. The reservoir description is intentionally generic, but serves to describe a means of evolution of conditions observed (in particular) at The Geysers. This study addresses the question of HTR formation numerically. The reservoir model and approach used is similar to that of Pruess (1985); however, vapor pressure lowering effects were included for the rock matrix. Results of this study indicate that a high temperature reservoir may occur as a steady state component of a "typical" vapor-dominated reservoir. Fractures within the HTR are dry; however, saturated conditions exists in the rock matrix. Pressures at depth follow a vapor pressure with depth relationship. Temperatures at depth are large (relative to saturated conditions) because of superheat in the fractures and vapor pressure lowering in the …

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.

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.

Three chemical tracer experiments and one extended injection of fluid low in concentration of dissolved species have been carried out during the Long Term Flow Test (LTFT) of the Fenton Hill Hot Dry Rock (HDR) reservoir. The tracer tests results illustrate the dynamic nature of the flow system, with more fluid traveling through longer residence time paths as heat is extracted. The total fracture volumes calculated from these tests allow us to determine the fate of unrecovered injection fluid, examine the pressure-dependence of fracture volume, and, through a comparison to the hydraulic performance, postulate a model for the nature of the pressure drops through the system. The Fresh Water Flush (FWF) test showed that while no dissolved specie behavior is truly conservative (no sources or sinks), several breakthrough curves are well explained with a pore fluid displacement model. Other dissolved components are clearly influenced by dissolution or precipitation reactions. Finally, the transient response of the chemistry during the FWF to an increase in production well pressure showed that some fractures connected to the production well preferentially open when pressure is raised.

Numerical experiments are performed to investigate the rock thermal conductivity influence in the formation of the thermodynamic initial conditions of two-phase systems located in volcanic rocks. These systems exhibit pressure and temperature profiles characterized by a sudden change or discontinuity in their vertical gradients. Vapor dominated, two-phase fluids are found at the upper reservoir's levels. Liquid is the dominated phase within the layers below some critical point. Numerical results presented in this paper, suggest that the vertical location of this point of discontinuity be controlled by the thermal conductivity existing between the limit of the reservoir and the caprock. Too high values could originate liquid dominated reservoirs. Small values would be at the origin of vapor dominated reservoirs. A characteristic middle value could be responsible for the formation of a counter flow mechanism originating the initial conditions observed at some locations of the Los Azufres, Mexico, geothermal field.

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 …

Raytheon Services Nevada has developed a classification process based on probabilistic risk assessment, using accident/impact scenarios for each system classified. Initial classification analyses were performed for the 20 systems of Package IA of the Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF). The analyses demonstrated a solid, defensible methodological basis for classification which minimizes the use of direct engineering judgment. They provide guidance for ESF design and risk management through the identification of: The critical characteristics of each system that need to be controlled; and the parts of the information base that most need to be further developed through performance assessment or other efforts.

The adiabatic Born-Oppenheimer potential energy surface approximation is not valid for reaction of a wide variety of energetic materials and organic fuels; coupling between electronic states of reacting species plays a key role in determining the selectivity of the chemical reactions induced. This research program initially studies this coupling in (1) selective C-Br bond fission in 1,3- bromoiodopropane, (2) C-S:S-H bond fission branching in CH[sub 3]SH, and (3) competition between bond fission channels and H[sub 2] elimination in CH[sub 3]NH[sub 2].

This Task Technical Plan outlines the activities to be conducted in the Integrated DWPF Melter System (IDMS) in ongoing support of the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) Chemical Process Cell (CPC) utilizing the Nitric Acid Flowsheet in the Sludge Receipt and Adjustment Tank (SRAT) and Precipitate Hydrolysis Aqueous (PHA) produced by the Late Wash Flowsheet. The IDMS facility is to be operated over a series of runs (2 to 4) using the Nitric Acid Flowsheet. The PHA will be produced with the Late Wash Flowsheet in the Precipitate Hydrolysis Experimental Facility (PHEF). All operating conditions shall simulate the expected DWPF operating conditions as closely as possible. The task objectives are to perform at least two IDMS runs with as many operating conditions as possible at nominal DWPF conditions. The major purposes of these runs are twofold: verify that the combined Late Wash and Nitric Acid flowsheets produce glass of acceptable quality without additional changes to process equipment, and determine the reproducibility of data from run to run. These runs at nominal conditions will be compared to previous runs made with PHA produced from the Late Wash flowsheet and with the Nitric Acid flowsheet in the SRAT (Purex 4 and Purex …

Two factors which have substantial impact on predicted Mercury emissions are the air flows in the Chemical Process Cell (CPC) and the exit temperature of the Formic Acid Vent Condenser (FAVC). The discovery in the IDMS (Integrated DWPF Melter System) of H{sub 2} generation by noble metal catalyzed formic acid decomposition and the resultant required dilution air flow has increased the expected instantaneous CPC air flow by as much as a factor of four. In addition, IDMS has experienced higher than design (10{degrees}C) FAVC exit temperatures during certain portions of the operating cycle. These temperatures were subsequently attributed to the exothermic reaction of NO to NO{sub 2}. Moreover, evaluation of the DWPF FAVC indicated it was undersized and unless modified or replaced, routine exit temperatures would be in excess of design. Purges required for H{sub 2} flammability control and verification of elevated FAVC exit temperatures due to NO{sub x} reactions have lead to significant changes in CPC operating conditions. Accordingly, mercury emissions estimates have been updated based upon the new operating requirements, IDMS experience, and development of an NO{sub x}/FAVC model which predicts FAVC exit temperatures. Using very conservative assumptions and maximum purge rates, the maximum calculated Hg emissions is …

A discussion is presented of Liouville`s theorem and its consequences for conservative dynamical systems. A formal proof of Liouville`s theorem is given. The Boltzmann equation is derived, and the collisionless Boltzmann equation is shown to be rigorously true for a continuous medium. The Fokker-Planck equation is derived. Discussion is given as to when the various equations are applicable and, in particular, under what circumstances phase space cooling may occur.

The ultimate objectives of this research are to further develop ALFA (AER Local Forecast and Assimilation) model originally designed at AER for local weather prediction and apply it to several related purposes in connection with the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program: (a) to provide a testbed that simulates a global climate model in order to facilitate the development and testing of new cloud parametrizations and radiation models; (b) to assimilate the ARM data continuously at the scale of a climate model, using the adjoint method, thus providing the initial conditions and verification data for testing parametrizations; (c) to study the sensitivity of a radiation scheme to cloud parameters, again using the adjoint method, thus demonstrating the usefulness of the testbed model. The data assimilation uses a variational technique that minimizes the difference between the model results and the observation during the analysis period. The adjoint model is used to compute the gradient of a measure of the model errors with respect to nudging terms that are added to the equations to force the model output closer to the data.