Investigation of Heat Extraction in an Enhanced Geothermal System Embedded with Fracture Networks Using the Thermal–Hydraulic–Mechanical Coupling Model
This paper presents a numerical study on thermal energy mining from hot dry rock (HDR) using an enhanced geothermal system (EGS). In these simulations, the thermal–hydraulic–mechanical (THM) coupling model is employed on the basis of the embedded discrete fracture model. The evolution of physical fi...
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2023-04-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/9/3758 |
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| author | Xin-Yue Duan Di Huang Wen-Xian Lei Shi-Chao Chen Zhao-Qin Huang Chuan-Yong Zhu |
| author_facet | Xin-Yue Duan Di Huang Wen-Xian Lei Shi-Chao Chen Zhao-Qin Huang Chuan-Yong Zhu |
| author_sort | Xin-Yue Duan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper presents a numerical study on thermal energy mining from hot dry rock (HDR) using an enhanced geothermal system (EGS). In these simulations, the thermal–hydraulic–mechanical (THM) coupling model is employed on the basis of the embedded discrete fracture model. The evolution of physical fields of the fractured reservoir, including temperature field, pressure field, and stress field is studied over time, and the effects of different controllable factors, such as fracture morphology, fluid injection rate, and the distances between the injection well and producing well on the heat recovery capacity are investigated. The results show that the fracture morphology significantly influences heat extraction performance. The working fluid mainly flows along with the fracture networks, which causes locally low temperatures and low mean effective stress near fractures. The porosity and permeability increase due to the decrease in mean effective stress. For reservoir models with inclined fractures, there will be a significant decrease in the extraction temperature. In the 30th year, the decline in the heat recovery rate is 46.6%, which is much higher than the model without inclined fractures. Moreover, the increasing injection temperature barely influences the production temperature, while it significantly decreases the heat recovery of the EGS. When the injection and production well spacing is small, increasing the well spacing is an effective way to improve the thermal extraction performance of the EGS. In the model in the paper, the heat production increases up to 13.7% when the injection-production well spacing is increased from 150 m to 450 m. The results of this work could provide guidance for the optimization and operation of EGS. |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T04:19:56Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-306a681d7d93424cada8a640f29a2d202023-11-17T22:51:21ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732023-04-01169375810.3390/en16093758Investigation of Heat Extraction in an Enhanced Geothermal System Embedded with Fracture Networks Using the Thermal–Hydraulic–Mechanical Coupling ModelXin-Yue Duan0Di Huang1Wen-Xian Lei2Shi-Chao Chen3Zhao-Qin Huang4Chuan-Yong Zhu5College of New Energy, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, ChinaCollege of New Energy, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, ChinaChangqing Engineering Design Company Limited, Xi’an 710000, ChinaCollege of New Energy, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, ChinaSchool of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, ChinaCollege of New Energy, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, ChinaThis paper presents a numerical study on thermal energy mining from hot dry rock (HDR) using an enhanced geothermal system (EGS). In these simulations, the thermal–hydraulic–mechanical (THM) coupling model is employed on the basis of the embedded discrete fracture model. The evolution of physical fields of the fractured reservoir, including temperature field, pressure field, and stress field is studied over time, and the effects of different controllable factors, such as fracture morphology, fluid injection rate, and the distances between the injection well and producing well on the heat recovery capacity are investigated. The results show that the fracture morphology significantly influences heat extraction performance. The working fluid mainly flows along with the fracture networks, which causes locally low temperatures and low mean effective stress near fractures. The porosity and permeability increase due to the decrease in mean effective stress. For reservoir models with inclined fractures, there will be a significant decrease in the extraction temperature. In the 30th year, the decline in the heat recovery rate is 46.6%, which is much higher than the model without inclined fractures. Moreover, the increasing injection temperature barely influences the production temperature, while it significantly decreases the heat recovery of the EGS. When the injection and production well spacing is small, increasing the well spacing is an effective way to improve the thermal extraction performance of the EGS. In the model in the paper, the heat production increases up to 13.7% when the injection-production well spacing is increased from 150 m to 450 m. The results of this work could provide guidance for the optimization and operation of EGS.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/9/3758enhanced geothermal systemfracture networksthermal–hydraulic–mechanicalheat extraction |
| spellingShingle | Xin-Yue Duan Di Huang Wen-Xian Lei Shi-Chao Chen Zhao-Qin Huang Chuan-Yong Zhu Investigation of Heat Extraction in an Enhanced Geothermal System Embedded with Fracture Networks Using the Thermal–Hydraulic–Mechanical Coupling Model Energies enhanced geothermal system fracture networks thermal–hydraulic–mechanical heat extraction |
| title | Investigation of Heat Extraction in an Enhanced Geothermal System Embedded with Fracture Networks Using the Thermal–Hydraulic–Mechanical Coupling Model |
| title_full | Investigation of Heat Extraction in an Enhanced Geothermal System Embedded with Fracture Networks Using the Thermal–Hydraulic–Mechanical Coupling Model |
| title_fullStr | Investigation of Heat Extraction in an Enhanced Geothermal System Embedded with Fracture Networks Using the Thermal–Hydraulic–Mechanical Coupling Model |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigation of Heat Extraction in an Enhanced Geothermal System Embedded with Fracture Networks Using the Thermal–Hydraulic–Mechanical Coupling Model |
| title_short | Investigation of Heat Extraction in an Enhanced Geothermal System Embedded with Fracture Networks Using the Thermal–Hydraulic–Mechanical Coupling Model |
| title_sort | investigation of heat extraction in an enhanced geothermal system embedded with fracture networks using the thermal hydraulic mechanical coupling model |
| topic | enhanced geothermal system fracture networks thermal–hydraulic–mechanical heat extraction |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/9/3758 |
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