Improvement of Calculating Formulas for Volumetric Resource Assessment.

Abstract

The USGS volumetric method is used for assessing the electrical capacity of a geothermal reservoir. The calculation formulas include both underground related parameters and above-ground related parameters. While primary variability and uncertainty in this method lay in the underground related parameters, electric capacity calculated is also a function of the above-ground related parameters. Among those parameters, the fluid temperature of the reservoir will be the key parameter for the volumetric method calculation when used with Monte Carlo method, because this temperature is the variable (uncertain) underground related parameter which affects the steam-liquid separation process in the separator - an above-ground related parameter. Conventional calculation methods do not deal with the steam-liquid separation process being affected by fluid temperature as a random variable when used together with Monte Carlo method. In order to fix up this issue, we have derived calculation formulas by introducing “Available Exergy Function”, thereby, the fluid-temperature-dependant separation process can be included in the equations together with the fluid temperature as a random variable. This paper presents the electricity capacity calculations formulas that can be used for the volumetric method together with Monte Carlo method. In addition, a comparison is also made between the proposed method and the USGS method. The theoretical background of the proposed formula has eventually proved to be as same as USGS method except for a few parameters adopted.