International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics · 2003 · 68 citations · 9 references
EngineeringEarth SciencesGeological EngineeringHeat TransferReservoir EngineeringReservoir SimulationFracture GeometryFractured Reservoir SimulationHeat Transfer AnalysisHeat Transfer ModelingThermal Reservoir SimulationThermal SimulationGeothermal Heat ExtractionGeothermal Reservoir EngineeringGeothermal Reservoir SimulationHeat Transfer In Geothermal ReservoirsHeat Transport ModelingNumerical SimulationPlanar Fracture GeometryThree-dimensional Reservoir Modeling
Abstract In the numerical simulation of heat extraction by circulating water in a fracture embedded in geothermal reservoir, the heat conduction in the reservoir is typically assumed to be one‐dimensional and perpendicular to the fracture in order to avoid the discretization of the three‐dimensional reservoir geometry. In this paper we demonstrate that by utilizing the integral equation formulation with a Green's function, the three‐dimensional heat flow in the reservoir can be modelled without the need of discretizing the reservoir. Numerical results show that the three‐dimensional heat conduction effect can significantly alter the prediction of heat extraction temperature and the reservoir life as compared to its one‐dimensional simplification. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
9