Effects of Capillarity and Vapor Adsorption in the Depletion of Vapor-Dominated Geothermal Reservoirs

Abstract

Vapor-dominated geothermal reservoirs in natural (undisturbed) conditions contain water as both vapor and liquid phases. The most compelling evidence for the presence of distributed liquid water is the observation that vapor pressures in these systems are close to saturated vapor pressure for measured reservoir temperatures (White et al., 1971; Truesdell and White, 1973). Analysis of natural heat flow conditions provides additional, indirect evidence for the ubiquitous presence of liquid. From an analysis of the heat pipe process (vapor-liquid counterflow) R u e s (1985) inferred that effective vertical permeability to liquid phase in vapor-dominated reservoirs is approximately IO-íí m2, for a heat flux of 1 W/m2. This value appears to be at the high end of matrix permeabilities of unfractured rocks at The Geysers, suggesting that at least the smaller fractures contribute to liquid permeability. For liquid to be mobile in fractures, the rock matrix must be essentially completely liquid-saturated, because otherwise liquid phase would be sucked from the fractures into the matrix by capillary force. Large water saturation in the matrix, well above the irreducible saturation of perhaps 30%, has been shown to be compatible with production of superheated steam (Pruess and Narasimhan, 1982).