IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v15y2022i23p9020-d987289.html

Utilization of Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) in Modelling and Simulation of a Horizontal Well-Doublet Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) with Sensitivity Analysis of Key Production Parameters

Author

Listed:
  • Damian Janiga

    (Department of Petroleum Engineering, Faculty of Drilling, Oil and Gas, AGH University of Science and Technology, al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Kraków, Poland)

  • Jakub Kwaśnik

    (Department of Petroleum Engineering, Faculty of Drilling, Oil and Gas, AGH University of Science and Technology, al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Kraków, Poland)

  • Paweł Wojnarowski

    (Department of Petroleum Engineering, Faculty of Drilling, Oil and Gas, AGH University of Science and Technology, al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Kraków, Poland)

Abstract

Projects that feature unconventional geothermal systems are complex and come at great investment risk and high project cost. The purpose of this work is to present a method for modelling an enhanced geothermal system (EGS) that utilizes a horizontal well-doublet setup. The proposed wells’ positioning was to minimize one of the biggest cost factors: the flow rate. As a part of the research, a case study was conducted and a fully coupled EGS model prepared, based on the data from the Utah FORGE site. The model includes a discrete fracture network (DFN) that represents hydraulic fractures and a stimulated reservoir volume (SRV) for controlling the fractures’ properties. The model’s viability was checked by a series of reservoir simulations, which provided the results for sensitivity analysis of the production parameters. Analysis of the results was conducted based on the temperature decline over an EGS system lifetime, which is one of the primary indicators for EGS. The proposed solution allowed for effectively minimising the injection and production flow rate while maintaining reasonable temperature drawdown levels. It was proven that reservoir modelling and simulation tools, used in the oil and gas industry, can be successfully applied for modelling geothermal systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Damian Janiga & Jakub Kwaśnik & Paweł Wojnarowski, 2022. "Utilization of Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) in Modelling and Simulation of a Horizontal Well-Doublet Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) with Sensitivity Analysis of Key Production Parameters," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-19, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:23:p:9020-:d:987289
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/23/9020/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/23/9020/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gong, Facheng & Guo, Tiankui & Sun, Wei & Li, Zhaomin & Yang, Bin & Chen, Yimei & Qu, Zhanqing, 2020. "Evaluation of geothermal energy extraction in Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) with multiple fracturing horizontal wells (MFHW)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 1339-1351.
    2. Xu, Tianfu & Yuan, Yilong & Jia, Xiaofeng & Lei, Yude & Li, Shengtao & Feng, Bo & Hou, Zhaoyun & Jiang, Zhenjiao, 2018. "Prospects of power generation from an enhanced geothermal system by water circulation through two horizontal wells: A case study in the Gonghe Basin, Qinghai Province, China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 196-207.
    3. Zeng, Yu-Chao & Su, Zheng & Wu, Neng-You, 2013. "Numerical simulation of heat production potential from hot dry rock by water circulating through two horizontal wells at Desert Peak geothermal field," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 92-107.
    4. Lu, Shyi-Min, 2018. "A global review of enhanced geothermal system (EGS)," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 2902-2921.
    5. Cui, Guodong & Ren, Shaoran & Zhang, Liang & Ezekiel, Justin & Enechukwu, Chioma & Wang, Yi & Zhang, Rui, 2017. "Geothermal exploitation from hot dry rocks via recycling heat transmission fluid in a horizontal well," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 366-377.
    6. Lei, Zhihong & Zhang, Yanjun & Zhang, Senqi & Fu, Lei & Hu, Zhongjun & Yu, Ziwang & Li, Liangzhen & Zhou, Jian, 2020. "Electricity generation from a three-horizontal-well enhanced geothermal system in the Qiabuqia geothermal field, China: Slickwater fracturing treatments for different reservoir scenarios," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 65-83.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sultan, Zayed Bin & Sheng, James J., 2026. "A critical review of the techno-economic feasibility and sustainability of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS): Global insights and strategic pathways," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ma, Yuanyuan & Li, Shibin & Zhang, Ligang & Liu, Songze & Liu, Zhaoyi & Li, Hao & Shi, Erxiu, 2020. "Study on the effect of well layout schemes and fracture parameters on the heat extraction performance of enhanced geothermal system in fractured reservoir," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    2. Hou, Xinglan & Zhong, Xiuping & Nie, Shuaishuai & Wang, Yafei & Tu, Guigang & Ma, Yingrui & Liu, Kunyan & Chen, Chen, 2024. "Study on the heat recovery behavior of horizontal well systems in the Qiabuqia geothermal area of the Gonghe Basin, China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 286(C).
    3. Xue, Zhenqian & Zhang, Kai & Zhang, Chi & Ma, Haoming & Chen, Zhangxin, 2023. "Comparative data-driven enhanced geothermal systems forecasting models: A case study of Qiabuqia field in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    4. Wentao Zhao & Yilong Yuan & Tieya Jing & Chenghao Zhong & Shoucheng Wei & Yulong Yin & Deyuan Zhao & Haowei Yuan & Jin Zheng & Shaomin Wang, 2023. "Heat Production Performance from an Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) Using CO 2 as the Working Fluid," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-16, October.
    5. Wang, Gaosheng & Song, Xianzhi & Shi, Yu & Yang, Ruiyue & Yulong, Feixue & Zheng, Rui & Li, Jiacheng, 2021. "Heat extraction analysis of a novel multilateral-well coaxial closed-loop geothermal system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 974-986.
    6. Chen, Tairu & Liu, Gang & Liao, Shengming, 2019. "Impacts of boundary conditions on reservoir numerical simulation and performance prediction of enhanced geothermal systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 202-213.
    7. Han, Songcai & Cheng, Yuanfang & Gao, Qi & Yan, Chuanliang & Zhang, Jincheng, 2020. "Numerical study on heat extraction performance of multistage fracturing Enhanced Geothermal System," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 1214-1226.
    8. Ma, Yuanyuan & Li, Shibin & Zhang, Ligang & Liu, Songze & Liu, Zhaoyi & Li, Hao & Shi, Erxiu & Liu, Xuemei & Liu, Hongliang, 2020. "Analysis on the heat extraction performance of multi-well injection enhanced geothermal system based on leaf-like bifurcated fracture networks," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    9. Qiao, Mingzheng & Jing, Zefeng & Feng, Chenchen & Li, Minghui & Chen, Cheng & Zou, Xupeng & Zhou, Yujuan, 2024. "Review on heat extraction systems of hot dry rock: Classifications, benefits, limitations, research status and future prospects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    10. Wang, Guoying & Ma, Hongwei & Liu, Shaowei & Yang, Dong & Xu, Xiaokai & Fu, Mengxiong & Jia, Housheng, 2022. "Thermal power extraction from a deep, closed-loop, multi-level, multi-branch, U-shaped borehole heat exchanger geothermal system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 894-906.
    11. Liu, Gang & Zhou, Chunwei & Rao, Zhenghua & Liao, Shengming, 2021. "Impacts of fracture network geometries on numerical simulation and performance prediction of enhanced geothermal systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 492-504.
    12. Moussa, Tamer & Dehghanpour, Hassan, 2022. "Evaluating geothermal energy production from suspended oil and gas wells by using data mining," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 1294-1307.
    13. Yu, Han & Xu, Tianfu & Yuan, Yilong & Feng, Bo & ShangGuan, Shuantong, 2023. "Enhanced heat extraction performance from deep buried U-shaped well using the high-pressure jet grouting technology," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 1377-1386.
    14. Ma, Weiwu & Xu, Yifan & Ahmed, Shams Forruque & Yang, Chong & Liu, Gang, 2024. "Techno-economic optimization of enhanced geothermal systems with multi-well fractured reservoirs via geothermal economic ratio," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 311(C).
    15. Gong, Facheng & Guo, Tiankui & Sun, Wei & Li, Zhaomin & Yang, Bin & Chen, Yimei & Qu, Zhanqing, 2020. "Evaluation of geothermal energy extraction in Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) with multiple fracturing horizontal wells (MFHW)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 1339-1351.
    16. Ji, Jiayan & Song, Xianzhi & Song, Guofeng & Xu, Fuqiang & Shi, Yu & Lv, Zehao & Li, Shuang & Yi, Junlin, 2023. "Study on fracture evolution model of the enhanced geothermal system under thermal-hydraulic-chemical-deformation coupling," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    17. Zhang, Yu & Zhang, Yanjun & Zhou, Ling & Lei, Zhihong & Guo, Liangliang & Zhou, Jian, 2022. "Reservoir stimulation design and evaluation of heat exploitation of a two-horizontal-well enhanced geothermal system (EGS) in the Zhacang geothermal field, Northwest China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 330-350.
    18. Zheng, Jun & Li, Peng & Dou, Bin & Fan, Tao & Tian, Hong & Lai, Xiaotian, 2022. "Impact research of well layout schemes and fracture parameters on heat production performance of enhanced geothermal system considering water cooling effect," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    19. Xu, Bin & Liao, Jianxing & Xie, Yachen, 2025. "Numerical evaluation of thermal performance in an enhanced geothermal system by using impure CO2 as a working fluid," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    20. Li, Xinxin & Li, Chengyu & Gong, Wenping & Zhang, Yanjie & Wang, Junchao, 2023. "Probabilistic analysis of heat extraction performance in enhanced geothermal system based on a DFN-based modeling scheme," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PC).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:23:p:9020-:d:987289. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.