Numerical Simulation of Instability of Geothermal Production Well
- Key words
- Wellbore flow; instability; reservoir flow; multi-feed; numerical model
- Location
- Sumikawa, Japan; Sengan Geothermal Area
- Conference
- Geothermal Resources Council Transactions
- Year
- 2013
- Session
- Reservoir modeling; Fluid dynamics; Two phase flow
- Language
- English
Abstract
Oscillations in wellhead pressure are sometimes observed in production wells with multiple feedzones. This instability affects stable steam production, and in extreme cases may cause steam production from the well to cease altogether. In this study, we developed a coupled model of transient wellbore and reservoir flows with two well feedzones. Then, numerical simulations were carried out to evaluate the effects of reservoir temperature on the flow characteristics of wells with multiple feedzones. These simulation results show that the cyclic changes in wellhead pressure are caused by temporal changes in the flash point depth within the wellbore.
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