Resource Development

Abstract

The resource assessment techniques utilized in geothermal reservoir engineering are a combination derived from the disciplines of groundwater hydrology and petroleum engineering. As the geothermal industry has developed, these techniques have been modified to take into account phenomena normally ignored in aquifer management and oilfield practice. Details of multiphase flow and heat transfer need to be incorporated into the geothermal reservoir engineer's repertoire. The purpose of this presentation is to (1) comment on how several established groundwater and petroleum reservoir engineering techniques (reservoir modeling and wellbore flow simulation) are currently utilized in the geothermal industry to speed the development of large and small prospects, and (2) suggest areas where future government-funded research might be directed in order to assist the geothermal industry in the development of geothermal resources.