Mapping the Geothermal Potential of Fault Zones in the Belgium-Netherlands Border Region

Loveless, Sian; Pluymaekers, Maarten; Lagrou, David; Boever, Eva De; Doornenbal, Hans; Laenen, Ben

doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2014.10.388

Cited by 24 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Indeed, faults in sandstone influence the potential for upwards transport of contaminants from both nuclear waste repositories and hydraulically fractured reservoirs of shale gas (Bense et al 2013(Bense et al , 2016Cai and Ofterdinger 2014;Flewelling and Sharma 2014). Geothermal production wells are planned in correspondence of extensional faults with large damage zones to exploit the property of maximum permeability parallel to the fracture planes (Loveless et al 2014;Moreno et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Permeability of rock discontinuities and faults in the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Group (UK): insights for management of fluvio-aeolian aquifers worldwide

et al. 2019

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Fluvio-aeolian sedimentary successions host groundwater aquifers at shallow depths (<~0.15 km), which overlie geothermal and shale-gas reservoirs, and nuclear waste repositories at intermediate depths (~0.15-2.0 km). Additionally, such deposits represent petroleum reservoirs at greater depths (~2.0-4.0 km). The need to improve conceptual understanding of the hydraulic behaviour of fluvial-aeolian sandstone successions over a large depth interval (~0-4 km) is important for socioeconomic reasons. Thus, the hydraulic properties of the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone aquifer in the UK have been reviewed and compared to similar fluvioaeolian successions. The ratio between well-scale and core-plug-scale permeability (K well-test /K core-plug) acts as a proxy for the relative importance of fracture versus intergranular flow. This ratio (which typically varies from~2 to 100) indicates significant contribution of fractures to flow at relatively shallow depths (<~0.15 km). Here, permeability development is controlled by dissolution of calcite-dolomite in correspondence of fractures. The observed ratio (K well-test /K core-plug) decreases with depth, approaching unity, indicating that intergranular flow dominates at~1 km depth. At depths ≥~1 km, dissolution of carbonate cement by rock alteration due to groundwater flow is absent and fractures are closed. Aeolian and fluvial deposits behave differently in proximity to normal faults in the Sherwood Sandstone aquifer. Deformation bands in aeolian dune deposits strongly compartmentalize this aquifer. The hydro-structural properties of fluvio-aeolian deposits are also controlled by mineralogy in fault zones. A relative abundance of quartz vs. feldspar and clays in aeolian sandstones favours development of low-permeability deformation bands.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Permeability of rock discontinuities and faults in the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Group (UK): insights for management of fluvio-aeolian aquifers worldwide

et al. 2019

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“…The research organization VITO is building the Balmatt heating plant; three deep wells have been drilled between 2016 and 2018 and to improve the understanding of the reservoir, a more detailed analysis was started, using data gathered from those three wells (Lagrou et al 2019). A faulted area in the Campine Dinantian limestone deposit is the target at a depth of 2.8 to 3.8 km (Loveless et al 2014). Belgium can be considered with a moderate geothermal development stage.…”

Section: Belgiummentioning

confidence: 99%

An online survey to evaluate the awareness and acceptance of geothermal energy among an educated segment of the population in five European and American countries

Balzan-Alzate

López-Sánchez

Blessent

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Advances in new technologies and ensuring a sustainable and safe energy supply, put communities in a key position to achieve the transition from conventional to renewable resources, such as geothermal energy. Perception and acceptance have a high impact on the feasibility of energy projects amongst different audiences, which is an important aspect to analyze. For this reason, this study focuses on evaluating the level of awareness and acceptance of geothermal energy within an educated segment of the population in five European and American countries (Canada, Colombia, Chile, Belgium and France) facing different stages of geothermal development. This study was conducted through an online survey, which was targeted to post-secondary students and professionals. Some of the most significant conclusions are: 1) there is a high degree of awareness of geothermal energy among the respondents in Chile and Canada, an average level in Belgium and France, and a low one in Colombia; 2) there is a favorable acceptance of a geothermal project in each country, even when hydraulic stimulation is considered; 3) environmental aspects and community safety are the most important issues that must be addressed to support a pilot geothermal project.

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“…This typical characteristic of fault zones thus increases the chance of good hydraulic connection between injection-and production wells and is potentially further improved by the often-observed fault-parallel fracture anisotropy within the damage zone (e.g., Bense et al, 2013;Caine et al, 1996;Faulkner et al, 2010;Shipton and Cowie, 2003). However, a number of critical studies exists (e.g., Bakhsh et al, 2016;Bauer et al, 2017;Bauer, 2018;Biemans, 2014;Diaz et al, 2016;Loveless et al, 2014) that discuss the risk and difficulties of exploring and exploiting fault zones as geothermal reservoirs. The two main concerns reported are that first a fault's architecture at reservoir depth is, due to the heterogeneous nature of rocks, and, in particular, that of faults, difficult to predict, i.e., exploration risk increases with complexity and heterogeneity of the envisaged reservoir (e.g., Bauer 2018;Bauer et al, 2018;Loveless et al, 2014).…”

Section: Faulted Reservoirsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, a number of critical studies exists (e.g., Bakhsh et al, 2016;Bauer et al, 2017;Bauer, 2018;Biemans, 2014;Diaz et al, 2016;Loveless et al, 2014) that discuss the risk and difficulties of exploring and exploiting fault zones as geothermal reservoirs. The two main concerns reported are that first a fault's architecture at reservoir depth is, due to the heterogeneous nature of rocks, and, in particular, that of faults, difficult to predict, i.e., exploration risk increases with complexity and heterogeneity of the envisaged reservoir (e.g., Bauer 2018;Bauer et al, 2018;Loveless et al, 2014). The second concern is directly correlated to the expected high permeability that makes a fault a prime target in geothermics.…”

Section: Faulted Reservoirsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A numerical sensitivity study of how permeability, geological structure, and hydraulic gradient control the lifetime of a geothermal reservoir

Bauer¹,

Krumbholz²,

Luijendijk³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Abstract. Geothermal energy is an important and sustainable resource that has more potential than is currently utilized. Whether or not a deep geothermal resource can be exploited, depends on, besides temperature, mostly the utilizable reservoir volume over time, which in turn largely depends on petrophysical parameters. We show, using a large series (n = 1027) of 4-dimensional finite element models of a simple geothermal doublet, that the lifetime of a reservoir is a complex function of its geological parameters, their heterogeneity, and the background hydraulic gradient (BHG). In our models, we test the effects of porosity, permeability, and BHG in an isotropic medium. Further, we simulate the effect of permeability contrast and anisotropy induced by layering, fractures, and a fault. We quantify the lifetime of the reservoir by measuring the time to thermal breakthrough, i.e., how many years pass before the 100 °C isotherm (HDI) reaches the production well. Our results attest to the positive effect of high porosity; however, high permeability and BHG can combine to outperform the former. Certain configurations of all the parameters can cause either early thermal breakthrough or extreme longevity of the reservoir. For example, the presence of high permeability fractures, e.g., in a fault damage zone, can provide initially high yields, but channels fluid flow and therefore dramatically restricts the exploitable reservoir volume. We demonstrate that the magnitude and orientation of the BHG, provided permeability is sufficiently high, are prime parameters that affect the lifetime of a reservoir. Our numerical experiments show also that BHGs (low and high) can be outperformed by comparatively small variations in permeability contrast (103) and fracture-induced permeability anisotropy (101) that thus strongly affect the performance of geothermal reservoirs.

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Mapping the Geothermal Potential of Fault Zones in the Belgium-Netherlands Border Region

Cited by 24 publications

References 24 publications

Permeability of rock discontinuities and faults in the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Group (UK): insights for management of fluvio-aeolian aquifers worldwide

Permeability of rock discontinuities and faults in the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Group (UK): insights for management of fluvio-aeolian aquifers worldwide

An online survey to evaluate the awareness and acceptance of geothermal energy among an educated segment of the population in five European and American countries

A numerical sensitivity study of how permeability, geological structure, and hydraulic gradient control the lifetime of a geothermal reservoir

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