Numerical Investigation on the Effect of Cementing Properties on the Thermal and Mechanical Stability of Geothermal Wells

Jongmuk Won, Hyun-Jun Choi, Hyobum Lee and Hangseok Choi
Additional contact information
Jongmuk Won: School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
Hyun-Jun Choi: School of Civil, Environmental, & Architectural Engineering, Korea University, Anam-Dong, Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul 02841, Korea
Hyobum Lee: School of Civil, Environmental, & Architectural Engineering, Korea University, Anam-Dong, Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul 02841, Korea
Hangseok Choi: School of Civil, Environmental, & Architectural Engineering, Korea University, Anam-Dong, Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul 02841, Korea

Energies, 2016, vol. 9, issue 12, 1-13

Abstract: In this paper, a two-dimensional (2-D) Finite Element (FE) analysis of a geothermal well was performed with respect to five different cross-sections corresponding to the design specifications for the geothermal well that is currently constructed in Pohang, South Korea. Among the essential components (such as ground formation, casing, and cementing) of a geothermal well, the thermal and mechanical stability of the cementing component was discussed based on a series of parametric studies with consideration of the thermal conductivity and Young’s modulus of the cementing component. With increasing number of casing layers, the cementing component experiences less stress concentration. In addition, the lower thermal conductivity of the cementing material is advantageous for effectively controlling radial displacement. Consequently, it should be noted in geothermal well cementing construction that long-term strength degradation of the cementing might cause the severe structural instability of an entire geothermal well.

Keywords: geothermal well cementing; G-class cement; numerical analysis; thermal conductivity; Young’s modulus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/9/12/1016/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/9/12/1016/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:9:y:2016:i:12:p:1016-:d:84357

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().