3D Dual Porosity Modeling of Tracer Transport in Palinpinon 1 Geothermal Field, Philippines

Abstract

A small-scale three-dimensional dual-porosity model was developed to simulate the results of the 2009 multi-production/multi-injection NDS tracer test carried-out in Palinpinon I Geothermal Field, Philippines. A single porosity model was first generated using the windows-based pre- and post- processing software for TOUGH2 known as PETRASIM. Partitioning of the single porosity mesh into two computational volume elements to create a double-porosity grid was done using the program called GMINC. Calibration of the model focused on the tracer return data from the four most responsive production wells only. An acceptable match of the tracer recovery profiles for the four observation wells was obtained. Results of the simulation suggest that both the highly permeable faults and the lithologic boundaries provide pathways for transport of tracer chemicals from the injection well to the production area