A Temperature Drop Model for Two-Phase Flow in Geothermal Wellbores

Abstract

This temperature-drop model is formulated as an answer to the question, ëHow ruth further up the wellbore will a unit mass of fluid be when its terperature is exactly one-deqree cooler than at its current position?í. The repeated calculation yields a temperature profile extendinq upwardly from the bubble point. This approach is based on a paradigm that emphasizes temperature and volume for a system that is dominated by one corponent. It has only a small overlap with the nore popular paradiqm for this topic which involves mrchaniral pressures and mcrpy balances. A set of plots is qiven which shows the effects on temperature and pressure profiles due to changes of sinqle factors when a11 other factors are held constant. The factors include comaon wellbore and reservoir parareters. These latter plot s qire considerable insiqht into wellbore processes and the nature of constraints on two-phase flow for an essentially one-component substance.