Understanding Constraints on Geothermal Sustainability Through Reservoir Characterization at Brady Geothermal Field, Nevada
The vast supply of geothermal energy stored throughout the Earth and the exceedingly long time required to dissipate that energy makes the world's geothermal energy supply nearly limitless. As such, this resource holds the potential to provide a large supply of the world's energy demands; however, like all natural resources, it must be utilized in an appropriate manner if it is to be sustainable. Understanding sustainable use of geothermal resources requires thorough characterization efforts aimed at better understanding subsurface properties. The goal of this work is to understand which critical subsurface properties exert the most influence on sustainable geothermal production as a means to provide targeted future resource characterization strategies.
Borehole temperature and reservoir pressure data were analyzed to estimate reservoir thermal and hydraulic properties at an active geothermal site. These reservoir properties then served as inputs for an analytical model which simulated net power production over a 30-year period. The analytical model was used to conduct a sensitivity analysis to determine which parameters were most critical in constraining the sustainability of a geothermal reservoir. Modeling results reveal that the number of preferential flow pathways (i.e. fractures) used for heat transport provides the greatest impact on geothermal reservoir sustainability. These results suggest that early and pre-production geothermal reservoir exploration would achieve the greatest benefit from characterization strategies which seek to delineate the number of active flow pathways present in the system.
Citation Formats
TY - DATA
AB - The vast supply of geothermal energy stored throughout the Earth and the exceedingly long time required to dissipate that energy makes the world's geothermal energy supply nearly limitless. As such, this resource holds the potential to provide a large supply of the world's energy demands; however, like all natural resources, it must be utilized in an appropriate manner if it is to be sustainable. Understanding sustainable use of geothermal resources requires thorough characterization efforts aimed at better understanding subsurface properties. The goal of this work is to understand which critical subsurface properties exert the most influence on sustainable geothermal production as a means to provide targeted future resource characterization strategies.
Borehole temperature and reservoir pressure data were analyzed to estimate reservoir thermal and hydraulic properties at an active geothermal site. These reservoir properties then served as inputs for an analytical model which simulated net power production over a 30-year period. The analytical model was used to conduct a sensitivity analysis to determine which parameters were most critical in constraining the sustainability of a geothermal reservoir. Modeling results reveal that the number of preferential flow pathways (i.e. fractures) used for heat transport provides the greatest impact on geothermal reservoir sustainability. These results suggest that early and pre-production geothermal reservoir exploration would achieve the greatest benefit from characterization strategies which seek to delineate the number of active flow pathways present in the system.
AU - Patterson, Jeremy R.
DB - Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI)
DP - Open EI | National Renewable Energy Laboratory
DO -
KW - geothermal
KW - energy
KW - hydrogeology
KW - DTS
KW - reservoir characterization
KW - Nevada
KW - Brady Hot Springs
KW - borehole pressure
KW - borehole temperature
KW - distributed temperature sensing
KW - PoroTomo
KW - sustainability
KW - sustainable use
KW - subsurface properties
KW - resorce
KW - identification
KW - assessment
KW - production
KW - characterization
KW - temperature
KW - pressure
KW - thermal
KW - hydraulic
KW - properties
KW - analytical
KW - model
KW - numerical
KW - analysis
KW - reservoir
KW - sensitivity
KW - flow paths
KW - fractures
KW - flow
KW - pathways
KW - preferential
KW - heat
KW - transport
KW - parameters
KW - simulation
KW - power production
LA - English
DA - 2018/07/11
PY - 2018
PB - University of Wisconsin
T1 - Understanding Constraints on Geothermal Sustainability Through Reservoir Characterization at Brady Geothermal Field, Nevada
UR - https://data.openei.org/submissions/7228
ER -
Patterson, Jeremy R.. Understanding Constraints on Geothermal Sustainability Through Reservoir Characterization at Brady Geothermal Field, Nevada. University of Wisconsin, 11 July, 2018, GDR. https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1077.
Patterson, J. (2018). Understanding Constraints on Geothermal Sustainability Through Reservoir Characterization at Brady Geothermal Field, Nevada. [Data set]. GDR. University of Wisconsin. https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1077
Patterson, Jeremy R.. Understanding Constraints on Geothermal Sustainability Through Reservoir Characterization at Brady Geothermal Field, Nevada. University of Wisconsin, July, 11, 2018. Distributed by GDR. https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1077
@misc{OEDI_Dataset_7228,
title = {Understanding Constraints on Geothermal Sustainability Through Reservoir Characterization at Brady Geothermal Field, Nevada},
author = {Patterson, Jeremy R.},
abstractNote = {The vast supply of geothermal energy stored throughout the Earth and the exceedingly long time required to dissipate that energy makes the world's geothermal energy supply nearly limitless. As such, this resource holds the potential to provide a large supply of the world's energy demands; however, like all natural resources, it must be utilized in an appropriate manner if it is to be sustainable. Understanding sustainable use of geothermal resources requires thorough characterization efforts aimed at better understanding subsurface properties. The goal of this work is to understand which critical subsurface properties exert the most influence on sustainable geothermal production as a means to provide targeted future resource characterization strategies.
Borehole temperature and reservoir pressure data were analyzed to estimate reservoir thermal and hydraulic properties at an active geothermal site. These reservoir properties then served as inputs for an analytical model which simulated net power production over a 30-year period. The analytical model was used to conduct a sensitivity analysis to determine which parameters were most critical in constraining the sustainability of a geothermal reservoir. Modeling results reveal that the number of preferential flow pathways (i.e. fractures) used for heat transport provides the greatest impact on geothermal reservoir sustainability. These results suggest that early and pre-production geothermal reservoir exploration would achieve the greatest benefit from characterization strategies which seek to delineate the number of active flow pathways present in the system.},
url = {https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1077},
year = {2018},
howpublished = {GDR, University of Wisconsin, https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1077},
note = {Accessed: 2025-05-07}
}
Details
Data from Jul 11, 2018
Last updated Aug 23, 2018
Submitted Jul 25, 2018
Organization
University of Wisconsin
Contact
Jeremy Patterson
Authors
Original Source
https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1077Research Areas
Keywords
geothermal, energy, hydrogeology, DTS, reservoir characterization, Nevada, Brady Hot Springs, borehole pressure, borehole temperature, distributed temperature sensing, PoroTomo, sustainability, sustainable use, subsurface properties, resorce, identification, assessment, production, characterization, temperature, pressure, thermal, hydraulic, properties, analytical, model, numerical, analysis, reservoir, sensitivity, flow paths, fractures, flow, pathways, preferential, heat, transport, parameters, simulation, power productionDOE Project Details
Project Name PoroTomo Project
Project Lead Elisabet Metcalfe
Project Number EE0006760