Finite Element Analysis of a Thermal Flow Motion in Geothermal Chamber

Abstract

In this study problems of heat and mass transfers in a geothermal reservoir are solved numerically by the finite element analysis for development of geothermal exploration. The problems under investigation are unsteady free convection within a magma body. These geological phenomena require a large amount of computer storage as a result of the need to provide increased resolution near a small interesting area of the huge domain. The penalty method of finite element analysis is employed to reduce the number of unknown variable. The purpose of the unsteady free convection model is to investigate the effect of convection on the temperature and streamline distribution within a geothermal reservoir (magma body). The result of this study show that the convection gives larger temperatures gradients at the upper portion of the magma than the lower portion. Consequently, the heat transported from the bottom of the magma by convection prevents the roof of the magma body form freezing, or slows the freezing process at the upper portion of the magma.