Review of failure modes in supercritical geothermal drilling projects
Abstract Supercritical geothermal resources located close to the transition between the brittle–ductile zone have been proven to exist at drillable depths. This was demonstrated by several deep geothermal drilling campaigns throughout the years, starting in the late 1970s. The interest in exploring...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2018-12-01
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| Series: | Geothermal Energy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40517-018-0113-4 |
| _version_ | 1817989944521523200 |
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| author | Michal Kruszewski Volker Wittig |
| author_facet | Michal Kruszewski Volker Wittig |
| author_sort | Michal Kruszewski |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Supercritical geothermal resources located close to the transition between the brittle–ductile zone have been proven to exist at drillable depths. This was demonstrated by several deep geothermal drilling campaigns throughout the years, starting in the late 1970s. The interest in exploring supercritical resources is particularly strong, as it was revealed that one such well might significantly increase the production output and simultaneously decrease the need for drilling operations within a particular geothermal field. Deep drilling projects exploring supercritical resources such as these carried out in Iceland, Italy or Japan, where temperatures went significantly above the critical point and hostile geothermal fluids were produced, faced a variety of challenges during drilling operations and fluid production. The most critical of these exerted major thermally driven loads upon the cemented casing strings, leading to serious damages and eventually to well abandonment. This research presents an extensive literature search on failure modes of 20 wells from different high-enthalpy geothermal fields around the world, experiencing temperatures greater than the critical point of pure water and gives an overview of areas of improvements and potential solutions in regards to the drilling and well completion technology. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T00:53:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ab3a733359b245fcbbc569c6fac811df |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2195-9706 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T00:53:48Z |
| publishDate | 2018-12-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geothermal Energy |
| spelling | doaj.art-ab3a733359b245fcbbc569c6fac811df2022-12-22T02:21:42ZengSpringerOpenGeothermal Energy2195-97062018-12-016112910.1186/s40517-018-0113-4Review of failure modes in supercritical geothermal drilling projectsMichal Kruszewski0Volker Wittig1International Geothermal CentreInternational Geothermal CentreAbstract Supercritical geothermal resources located close to the transition between the brittle–ductile zone have been proven to exist at drillable depths. This was demonstrated by several deep geothermal drilling campaigns throughout the years, starting in the late 1970s. The interest in exploring supercritical resources is particularly strong, as it was revealed that one such well might significantly increase the production output and simultaneously decrease the need for drilling operations within a particular geothermal field. Deep drilling projects exploring supercritical resources such as these carried out in Iceland, Italy or Japan, where temperatures went significantly above the critical point and hostile geothermal fluids were produced, faced a variety of challenges during drilling operations and fluid production. The most critical of these exerted major thermally driven loads upon the cemented casing strings, leading to serious damages and eventually to well abandonment. This research presents an extensive literature search on failure modes of 20 wells from different high-enthalpy geothermal fields around the world, experiencing temperatures greater than the critical point of pure water and gives an overview of areas of improvements and potential solutions in regards to the drilling and well completion technology.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40517-018-0113-4Unconventional geothermal resourcesSupercritical geothermal resourcesDrilling technologyGeothermal well completionFailure modes |
| spellingShingle | Michal Kruszewski Volker Wittig Review of failure modes in supercritical geothermal drilling projects Geothermal Energy Unconventional geothermal resources Supercritical geothermal resources Drilling technology Geothermal well completion Failure modes |
| title | Review of failure modes in supercritical geothermal drilling projects |
| title_full | Review of failure modes in supercritical geothermal drilling projects |
| title_fullStr | Review of failure modes in supercritical geothermal drilling projects |
| title_full_unstemmed | Review of failure modes in supercritical geothermal drilling projects |
| title_short | Review of failure modes in supercritical geothermal drilling projects |
| title_sort | review of failure modes in supercritical geothermal drilling projects |
| topic | Unconventional geothermal resources Supercritical geothermal resources Drilling technology Geothermal well completion Failure modes |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40517-018-0113-4 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT michalkruszewski reviewoffailuremodesinsupercriticalgeothermaldrillingprojects AT volkerwittig reviewoffailuremodesinsupercriticalgeothermaldrillingprojects |