Recovery of Injected Condensate as Steam in The South Geysers Field
- Key words
- Power Generation; Reservoir Engineering; USA; Lake Sonoma; The Geysers; Condensate; Reinjection; Tracers; Deuterium; Injection Derived Steam
- Location
- The Geysers, California
- Conference
- Geothermal Resources Council Transactions
- Year
- 1989
- Session
- Injection; Tracer testing; Well testing; Reservoir modeling;
- Language
- English
Abstract
Power Plant condensate, highly enriched in deuterium (D) relative to reservoir steam is injected into the Geysers reservoir. The elevated D content of produced steam containing an injection component facilitates tracing of injection derived steam (IDA). Calculated recovery of IDS peaked in 1987 at nearly 800,000 lbs/hr for the Units 13, 16, NCPA-1, and NCPA-2 area of the South Geysers. The cause of the calculated subsequent decline is unclear, but could be due to: (1) less efficient boiling of injected condensate as a consequence of cooling of fracture surfaces within the injected water mass, (2) fractionation of D between injection water and IDS at temperatures below 220°C or, (3) movement of injection water under hydrostatic pressure to depths below the effective "floor" of the reservoir.
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