The Effect of Thermal Conduction upon Pressure Drawdown and Buildup in Fissured, Vapor-Dominated Geothermal Reservoirs

Abstract

An analysis of steam-pressure behavior in a vapor-dominated geothemal reservoir with an immobile vaporizing liquid phase was presented by Moench and Atkinson (1977) at the Third Stanford Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering, and later expanded by Moench and Atkinson (1978). In that study a finite- difference model was used to demonstrate the effects of phase change in the reservoir upon pressure drawdown sild buildup. In this paper that model is modified to incorporate heat transfer from blocks of impermeable rock to thin, highly-permeable, porous fissures. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the added effect of heat transfer of this type upon the transient pressure response of a vapor-dominated geothermal reservoir.