A Combined Heat Transfer and Quartz Dissolution/Deposition Model For a Hot Dry Rock Geothermal Reservoir

Abstract

A kinetic model of silica transport has been coupled to a heat transfer model for a Hot Dry Rock (HDR) geothermal reservoir to examine the effect of silica rock-water interactions on fracture aperture and permeability. The model accounts for both the dissolution and deposition of silica. Zones of local dissolution and deposition were predicted, but their effect on aperture and permeability were fairly small for all cases studied. Initial rock temperature, reservoir size, and the ratio of rock surface area to fluid volume have the largest effect on the magnitude of silica mass transfered between the liquid and solid phases.