Production Potential Assessment of the Low-Temperature Sedimentary Geothermal Reservoir in Lishuiqiao, Beijing, P.R. of China, Based on a 3-D Numerical Simulation Study

Abstract

The paper describes the development of a detailed numerical reservoir model of the geothermal system underlying the Lishuiqiao area in Beijing, P.R. of China. The purpose of the modeling was, firstly, to simulate the nature and response of the geothermal system and, secondly, calculate predictions on it's response to future production for different production scenarios in order to estimate it's production potential, which is mainly controlled by water-level-decline resulting from the hot water extraction. The model consists of about 4500 elements and covers the whole Beijing sedimentary Basin. It was developed using the TOUGH2 simulator and the inverse modeling capabilities of the iTOUGH2 code was applied for parameter estimation during the work. The predictions indicate drastic water-level draw-down in all the production wells, when reinjection is not applied. Based on the predictions the production potential of this geothermal region in Beijing is not likely to be much greater than 40 l/s on the average, with a maximum production of about 100 l/s during the heating period. With reinjection, the production potential, is much higher, perhaps of the order of 60-70 l/s on the average with 50 % reinjection.