Investigation on Heat Extraction Performance of Fractured Geothermal Reservoir Using Coupled Thermal-Hydraulic-Mechanical Model Based on Equivalent Continuum Method

Tong Wang, Zhixue Sun, Kai Zhang, Chuanyin Jiang, Ying Xin and Qiangqiang Mao
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Tong Wang: School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
Zhixue Sun: School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
Kai Zhang: School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
Chuanyin Jiang: School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
Ying Xin: School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
Qiangqiang Mao: School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China

Energies, 2018, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: Natural fractures and artificial fractures in a tight rock matrix of an enhanced geothermal system make flow and heat transfer become seriously anisotropic. In this paper, a field-scale fractured heterogeneous geothermal reservoir model is built to study the heat transfer process. Based on an equivalent continuum method and local thermal non-equilibrium model, an equivalent permeability tensor is mapped from discrete fractures and a coupled thermal-hydraulic-mechanical mathematical model is adopted in which logarithmic stress sensitivity model is used to couple effective stress and permeability. From numerical simulation results at different injection rates, the contour results show the heterogeneity of flow, heat transfer and stress sensitivity are dominated by fractures distribution. Temperature contours reveal that the heat convection between water and rock in a fracture is more intense than the heat conduction between rock under different temperatures. The predicted power generation of a geothermal plant reveals the adverse effect on heat conversion efficiency, which is caused by the temperature drop at high injection rates.

Keywords: enhanced geothermal system; THM coupling; equivalent continuum method; two-equation thermal model; numerical simulation (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: 2018
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