Advanced Software for Harmonious Geothermal Development with Nearby Hot Springs

Abstract

Possible interference of geothermal development onto nearby hot-spring is a big issue in Japan. Although problems with hot-spring owners may be a peculiar phenomenon in Japan, interference onto surrounding natural hydraulic system may be a common issue in the world. To prove that geothermal exploitations can be performed without interference to nearby hot springs and to develop an integrated geothermal reservoir operation system for adequately controlled utilization, a three-year research project “Harmonious Utilization of Geothermal Reservoir with Hot Spring Resources” was conducted from 2010 to 2012. A proto-type software, which helps “type analysis of hydrological relations between hot spring and geothermal reservoir” and “time series analysis of hot spring monitoring data” was developed in the project. Since the software had not reached to a level for practical uses, some improvement has been done after the project to make an advanced software. This paper introduces the function of the advanced software and describes the improvements from the proto-type software. In the software, “The type analysis” is conducted based on the chemical component and temperature of the hot spring(s). “The time series analysis” is conducted based on the monitoring data of hot spring(s), such as flow rate (or water level), temperature and concentration of chemical components (or electric conductivity) of the hot spring fluid. Note that both these analysis can be done with the hot spring data only. It is because the software was developed to help the hot spring owners to analyze and protect their own resources by themselves.