Flexible Lumped Parameter Modelling for Low-Temperature Reservoir Assessment

Abstract

Reservoir models are crucial for the estimation of a geothermal field’s response to different operation scenarios. Where field data is scarce, Lumped Parameter Reservoir Models (LPRM) are often a first choice. These can perform particularly well when operations include only a single observation site or can be approximated as such. We present a flexible LPRM scheme consisting of an arbitrary number of wells and reservoirs. This scheme can furthermore incorporate instantaneous changes of the parameters, as can be observed after earthquakes or altered utilization. Despite the increased model complexity, the set of extrinsic parameters can be optimized analytically, leaving only the intrinsic model properties subject to non-linear optimization. This LPRM method is tested on Icelandic geothermal fields, some strongly affected by the South-Iceland earthquakes of 2000.