Salinity Stabilization for Non-Advecting Brine in a Temperature Gradient with Applications to the Salton Sea Geothermal System
- Key words
- Exploration; Brine Technology; USA; California; Imperial; Salton Sea; Chemical Analysis; Chemistry; Chloride; Equilibrium Temperature; Geochemistry; Salinity; Geothermometers; TDS; Gradients; Heat Flow; Temperature Gradient; Thermal Anomaly; ppm; Composit
- Location
- Salton Sea, California; Imperial Valley
- Conference
- Geothermal Resources Council Transactions
- Year
- 1988
- Session
- Exploration; Geochemical surveys; Fluid dynamics; Geothermom
- Language
- English
Abstract
Although advective circulation of water commonly results from a near vertical temperatures gradient related to heat flow, for very salty brine the thermal effect on density can be overcome by a salinity gradient., Some requirements and limitations of these opposing effects are derived and explored in regard to brines of the Salton sea geothermal resource. The required salinity gradients to prevent advection are not severe in relation to the available brine concentrations and some evidence indicates that stabilization generally occurs there. Although earlier data on vertical pressure gradients have been interpreted to indicate slightly negative density gradients, uncertainties in the data are great enough that positive density gradients are permissible. Positive density gradients could yield true gravitational stability without advection in the Salton Sea Geothermal Resource.
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