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The risks of long-term re-injection in supercritical geothermal systems

Author

Listed:
  • Francesco Parisio

    (Technische Universitaet Bergakademie Freiberg
    Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research–UFZ)

  • Victor Vilarrasa

    (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
    Associated Unit: Hydrogeology Group UPC-CSIC)

  • Wenqing Wang

    (Technische Universitaet Bergakademie Freiberg)

  • Olaf Kolditz

    (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research–UFZ
    Technische Universitaet Dresden)

  • Thomas Nagel

    (Technische Universitaet Bergakademie Freiberg
    Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research–UFZ)

Abstract

Supercritical geothermal systems are appealing sources of sustainable and carbon-free energy located in volcanic areas. Recent successes in drilling and exploration have opened new possibilities and spiked interest in this technology. Experimental and numerical studies have also confirmed the feasibility of creating fluid conducting fractures in sedimentary and crystalline rocks at high temperature, paving the road towards Enhanced Supercritical Geothermal Systems. Despite their attractiveness, several important questions regarding safe exploitation remain open. We dedicate this manuscript to the first thermo-hydro-mechanical numerical study of a doublet geothermal system in supercritical conditions. Here we show that thermally-induced stress and strain effects dominate the geomechanical response of supercritical systems compared to pore pressure-related instabilities, and greatly enhance seismicity during cold water re-injection. This finding has important consequences in the design of Supercritical Geothermal Systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco Parisio & Victor Vilarrasa & Wenqing Wang & Olaf Kolditz & Thomas Nagel, 2019. "The risks of long-term re-injection in supercritical geothermal systems," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:10:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-019-12146-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12146-0
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    Cited by:

    1. Thomas Heinze & Nicola Pastore, 2023. "Velocity-dependent heat transfer controls temperature in fracture networks," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Víctor Vilarrasa & Silvia De Simone & Jesus Carrera & Antonio Villaseñor, 2022. "Multiple induced seismicity mechanisms at Castor underground gas storage illustrate the need for thorough monitoring," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-3, December.
    3. Mahmoodpour, Saeed & Singh, Mrityunjay & Turan, Aysegul & Bär, Kristian & Sass, Ingo, 2022. "Simulations and global sensitivity analysis of the thermo-hydraulic-mechanical processes in a fractured geothermal reservoir," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    4. Yang, Ruiyue & Hong, Chunyang & Liu, Wei & Wu, Xiaoguang & Wang, Tianyu & Huang, Zhongwei, 2021. "Non-contaminating cryogenic fluid access to high-temperature resources: Liquid nitrogen fracturing in a lab-scale Enhanced Geothermal System," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(P1), pages 125-138.

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