An unsaturated three-dimensional model of fluid flow and heat transfer in NW Sabalan geothermal reservoir

Seyedrahimi-Niaraq, Mirmahdi; Ardejani, Faramarz Doulati; Noorollahi, Younes; Nasrabadi, Saeid Jalili; Hekmatnejad, Amin

doi:10.1016/j.geothermics.2020.101966

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In Iran, only Meshkinshahr geothermal power plant is being installed in NW Sabalan field, which is located in the northwest of country, but its output has not entered the grid yet (Seyedrahimi-Niaraq et al 2021). Some publications (Aali et al 2017;Jalilinasrabady et al 2012) discussed the potential efficiency of this power plant, although a lack of real data hindered reliable modeling and studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study of geothermal energy potential as a green source of energy with a look at energy consumption in Iran

Dashti

Korzani

2021

Geotherm Energy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Regarding disadvantages of fossil fuels, renewables like geothermals can be an eco-friendly source of energy. In Iran, the availability of fossil fuels and poor policies surrounding subsidies (ranked as the first in giving subsidies) caused high energy consumption (1.75 times higher than the global average). Energy is mainly provided by fossil fuels that leads to high CO2 emission. This study evaluates the energy consumption trend and potentials of more sustainable resources like geothermals in Iran. The formation of geothermals is tightly linked with geological prerequisites that are partly present within Iran. Adjacency of the metamorphic with volcanic zones, existence of numerous faults and seismic activity of Iran are notable geological characteristics confirming the geothermal potential. In Iran, 18 regions are being explored as the most promising geothermal prospects. To test the potentials of one of these regions, a geothermal power plant with a capacity of 5 MWe is installed in the Sabalan Field. Northwest (where Sabalan Field is located), central (like Mahalat Region) and southeast of Iran (Makran Zone) can be regarded as promising zones for hosting geothermal prospects.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study of geothermal energy potential as a green source of energy with a look at energy consumption in Iran

Dashti

Korzani

2021

Geotherm Energy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Thus, Cui et al (2017) and Sun et al (2018) attempted to study the performance of geothermal development in horizontal wells, and the technical and economic feasibility was also assessed. In addition, based on the updated conceptual model of the field, Seyedrahimi- Niaraq et al (2021aNiaraq et al ( , 2021b presented an unsaturated numerical model for the NW Sabalan geothermal reservoir by incorporating some new exploration data and considering the unsaturated zone. For predicting the reservoir production capacity, a 30-year production response for the various electricity generation scenarios was carried out and the optimal production zone was determined.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimized geothermal energy extraction from hot dry rocks using a horizontal well with different exploitation schemes

Huang

et al. 2023

Geotherm Energy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the foreseeable future, the geothermal exploitation from hot dry rocks (HDR) using a horizontal well will bear potential. Thus, in-depth studies should be conducted on the selection of injection-production scheme (IPS) and working fluid, design of reinjection parameters, optimization of wellbore structure and materials, and analysis of geological settings. This paper proposed a fully coupled model to study the above scientific questions. For Model A, the working fluid was injected into the annulus and then flowed out of the thermal insulation pipe (TIP). Its temperature passes through two stages of temperature rise and two stages of temperature decline. But for model B, the working fluid was injected into the TIP and then flowed out of the annulus. Its temperature undergoes five stages, four stages of temperature rise and one stage of temperature decline. The results show that the Model A is the best IPS owing to its high outlet temperature, stable thermal recovery, and low fluid injection volume. In Model A, when the working fluid was supercritical carbon dioxide and the liquid injection volume was 135.73 m3/d, the heat recovery ratio (HRR) was as high as 85.40%, which was 17.85% higher than that of the Model B whose working medium was water, and its liquid injection volume was only 25% of that. Meanwhile, over ten years of continuous production, the outlet temperature decreased by 7.5 °C and 18.38 °C in the latter. The optimal working fluid has a low volume heat capacity and thermal conductivity for any IPS. Sensitivity studies showed that for the area that met the HDR standard, the effect of reinjection temperature on the outlet temperature can be ignored. As for Model A, HRR drops sharply by 6.74–9.32% when TIP goes from completely adiabatic to nonzero thermal conductivity. Meanwhile, the horizontal segment length of the TIP is shorter when Model A obtains the optimal outlet temperature compared with Model B. In addition, the correlation between the outlet temperature and different formations of thermophysical properties was seriously affected by the IPS and exploitation period, which was summarized in detail.

show abstract

“…In addition to being utilized as power plant sites, various geothermal locations have also been developed to support the local economy through geo-tourism [6,7]. Hydrothermal systems containing water or steam, or a mixture of both, are the most widely used geothermal reservoirs in various countries, including Indonesia [8,9]. This system has been applied in Villarrica volcano, Southern Chile [10], North-West Sabalan, Iran [8], and Torre Alfina, Italy [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hydrothermal systems containing water or steam, or a mixture of both, are the most widely used geothermal reservoirs in various countries, including Indonesia [8,9]. This system has been applied in Villarrica volcano, Southern Chile [10], North-West Sabalan, Iran [8], and Torre Alfina, Italy [11]. In addition, there also exists a hot dry rock system that does not contain steam and water [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping of Fault and Hydrothermal System beneath the Seulawah Volcano Inferred from a Magnetotellurics Structure

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Magnetotellurics (MT) is an important geophysical method for exploring geothermal systems, with the Earth resistivity obtained from the MT method proving to be useful for the hydrothermal imaging changes of the system. In this research, we applied the MT method to map the geothermal system of the Seulawah Agam volcano in northern Sumatra, a site intended for the construction of a geothermal power plant with an estimated energy of 230 Mwe. Herein, 3D MT measurements were carried out, covering the entire area of the volcano and the various intersecting local faults from the Seulimeum segment in the NW–SE direction. Based on Occam 2D inversion, a conductive anomaly (<10 ohm·m) near the surface was identified in response to specific manifestation areas, including the Heutsz crater on the northern side and the Cempaga crater on the southern side. A further conductive anomaly was also found at a depth of 1 km, which was presumably due to a clay cap layer covering the fluid in the reservoir layer below the surface, where the manifestation areas are formed at various locations (where faults and fractures are found) owing to the fluid in the reservoir rising to the surface. The MT modeling also revealed that the reservoir layer in Seulawah Agam lies at a depth of 2 km with a higher resistivity of 40–150 ohm·m, which is the main target of geothermal energy exploration. At the same time, the heat source zone where magma is located was estimated to lie in two locations, namely, on the northern side centering on the Heutsz crater area and the southern side in the Cempaga crater area. A clear 3D structure obtained via Occam inversion was also used to visualize the hydrothermal flow in the Seulawah Agam volcano that originates from two heat source zones, where one structure that was consistent across all models is the conductive zone that reaches a depth of 5 km in the south in response to the regional faulting of the Seulimeum segment. Based on the MT research, we concluded that the volcano has the geothermal potential to be tapped into power plant energy in the future.

show abstract

An unsaturated three-dimensional model of fluid flow and heat transfer in NW Sabalan geothermal reservoir

Cited by 9 publications

References 19 publications

Study of geothermal energy potential as a green source of energy with a look at energy consumption in Iran

Study of geothermal energy potential as a green source of energy with a look at energy consumption in Iran

Optimized geothermal energy extraction from hot dry rocks using a horizontal well with different exploitation schemes

Mapping of Fault and Hydrothermal System beneath the Seulawah Volcano Inferred from a Magnetotellurics Structure

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About